BLACK OSIRIS II

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Black Cajun Poet

a spectre haunting—
d voodoo hoodoo houngan
conjure me, baby

Nile Nexus

black osiris kid—
reborn prince eternal nile
another delta

jet-black cadillac—
streamlined dragons goin’ fast
funky ‘60s fins

luxor temple loins—
giza-sphinx sideways glances
keeping track of time

thanks to hoodoo priests—
d voodoo be back again
wise poets & scribes

now comes the hard part—
our ancient enemies
will soon be coming.

Bayou Mambo

dark voodoo lady—
mojo queen bee of the night
osiris’ mother

Catfish Blues

there be a catfish—
way down there in my thigh-bone
it be bayou bad

my girlfriend asks me—
“you done got the catfish blues?”
I don’t say nothin’

there be a gar-fish—
lurkin’ deep in my thigh-bone
it gots gator teeth

my girlfriend she say—
“you sure you don’t got the blues?”
I don’t say nothin’

there be crawdaddies—
crawlin’ around my thigh-bone
there in my pirogue

my girlfriend grabs it—
she grabs that crawdaddy good
sucks juice from d head

I don’t say nothin’—
except askin’ her real nice
“do it again, girl?”

Bayou Hoodoo Church

“do yo art d way u want
anyway u want”
—Ishmael Reed,
Conjure

bayou haiku boy—
young houngan from houma la
your spanish moss pubes

bucket of crawdads—
pirogue gliding thru d swamp
fixin’ some gumbo

he’s the silent type—
he be mulatto boyfriend
he be a black cajun

his sister be cute—
but she don’t like city boyz
baton rouge dummies

andre broussard—
be my stadium roommate
back there in the dorms

on weekends poker—
JAX, reefer, johnny walker
plus all his cousins

zydeco dances—
they know how to have big fun
soon i’m converted

jean broussard very—
laissez-faire about voodoo
mother be mambo

bewitched & crazy—
like madame marie laveau
but she don’t like me

jean be her jes grew—
don’t want any college boy
messin’ with his mind

I have to show her—
my black osiris secret
elongated dark

my ikhnaton thigh—
sprained sinews from wrestling
with d angel back then

after that she be—
my mambo mother in law
she teach me d way

one day she become—
water moccasin lady
dark, big fangs, pink mouth

a red bandana—
wrapped around her maria
ouspenskaya head

she turns into—
the wolfman mambo mom
of her son andre

he be new loa—
after katrina there be
many earth changes.