Beachhead Preachment

By Ahmos ZuBolton II

from this beach i want to make a poem

into a stage presence

with some sex in it,

with some oo-we-baby and trembling thighs,

with some tongue dancing in & out,

with some oo-la-la in it.

from this beach

a nightfall of orgasms my audience

gives back to me,

a nightful of orgasms my audience

gives back to me,

a nighful of putting our hands and hearts together,

a nightful of surf giving me some head,

as my short leg strokes the gypsy waves

and i move thru a forest of desire

i want to leave my sperm-seed radioactive

as i work some music thru a people

like uranium,

as my calypso testifies

and my zydeco shouts rock and roll bump

to the rhythm of the sea

i would be preacherman hallelujah lover

challenging the seaweed wig that life wears

between her bowed legs,

i would be a hot sunday afternoon healer

jazzing sho nuf gospel blues

from this beachhead

(i want to raise the lawd

with their nude music)

from this beach

let my voice be an echo lubricating the horizon,

let seagulls know my poem

that they might carry the word

in the sails of their wings.

Source: Open Places, No.29 (Spring 1980)

For several years he operated his own publishing firm, Energy Earth Communications. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and in the anthologies Giant Talk, Mississippi Writers: Reflections of Childhood and Youth, Vol. III, and Black Southern Voices: An Anthology of Fiction Poetry, Drama, NonFiction, and Critical Essays (1992). In addition to operating a community bookstore, ZuBolton frequently writes for the Louisiana Weekly.

Photo above: Ahmos ZuBolton II and Haryette Mullen