Thursday, February 10, 2011

CONFESSIONS OF PERCIVAL BROWNLEE


_________________________

The Confessions of Percival
(Spintrius) Brownlee
for Noel Polk
______________________________

“himself selfprogenitive
himself ancestored
old Carothers himself”
—William Faulkner
Go Down, Moses
________________________

"a text virtually

unmoored from

conventional

linearity and

periodicy."

—Noel Polk & Richard Godden,
Reading the ledgers,” The
Mississippi Quarterly 07-01-2002

_________________________


Well, to begin with—
It was like a “male brothel”
Down there way back then.

The Big Easy then—
Was kinda loose like Memphis
Prohibition Dayz.

It was a male joint—
The usual French Quarter
Whorehouse late at night.

*

It was legit tho—
Like the other whorehouses
Like Miss Reba’s joint.

I paid off the cops—
Played the usual ho-hum
View Carré Big Daddy.

My rich clientele—
Mostly closety wealthy
New Orleans elite.

*

Well, you know the type—
All prim & professional
By day dontchaknow.

Then loose as a goose—
On weekends when dat old down
And dirty Urge hits.

Mardi Gras was Fine—
Lucrative for all us gay
“Do the down-low” folks.

*

My boyz were pretty boyz—
Young sailors who’d jumped ship,
Creole young Beauties.

Cute mulatto Queens—
Plus a couple of racy
Bayou Transvestites.

I treated them right—
Like Miss Reba did her nice
Girls up there in Memphis.

*

Yes, that’s what happened—
To yours truly after Buck
Treated me so bad.

Had it pretty good—
Being a kept man up there
On the Plantation.

Theophilus and—
His queer twin brother Billy
The End of the Line.

*

Talk about Southern—
Decadence & Queer Low-Life
That was them, honey.

Bedford Forrest sold me—
Cheap to the McCaslin Twins
As a Bookeeper.

Couldn’t even Read—
Too nelly to plow or pick
Cotton dontchaknow.

*

They were quite a pair—
Queer as Three-Dollar Bills
Confederate Fags.

They’d ditched Slavery—
Knew all about Lucius
Quintus Carothers’ sins.

The McCaslin Curse—
Their grandfather fucking his
Own cute granddaughter.

*

No wonder Ike freaked—
Reading the tell-tale Ledgers
His own father “queer.”

And then me hanging—
Around with my miscegenal
Mistletoe fine butt.

But then you know all that—
“Snake Lips” Bill Faulkner has done
Told you all the Dirt.

*

Bedford Forrest be—
A Mandingo Slave-dealer
Back then dontchaknow.

Rufus DeVane King—
The Alabama Senator be
One of his “clients.”

So many of those—
Delta Bourbons way back then:
Queer McCaslin types.
_______________________________

William Rufus DeVane King (April 7, 1786 – April 18, 1853) was the 13th Vice President of the United States for about six weeks, died in Cuba. Lover of President Buchanan. Known as “Miss Nancy” by Andrew Jackson. Kept a coterie of young black studs in his Beltway residence. His plantation tres Sutpenesque—lots of Mandingo boyz.




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