day 3, poem 3 - up jump the boogie (for john murillo)

guys! i mentioned ghazal in class recently. this would be an example!

Up Jump the Boogie
for John Murillo’s book party

We piled into the upper room, sniffing for our kind
fiending one another, all different shades of black

reincarnated of another renaissance, we dressed
all smooth, so sharp we seemed blades of black

all tropes present, the diva queen, the lover king
the matron thick, the scandalous - all swaying to black

There was fried chicken, blues and copious bass
We hold tight to our history. Forgive us if we’re slaves to black

John, tall and stately, a funk renegade, a fist unfurled,
from head to toe, in grown man garb, my niggah swathed in black

poems mystical as a fist fight, thick as a pistol
the women sing his name in verse. Their hips swayed to black

Rum for Chango, spirits poured for all our dead
our gathering blessed, the ancestors keep us bathed in black

and I, Roger, honored to be among the called, the numbered
sing my song. I’m of a protected clan. We chant survive. We don’t just fade to black.