FOUR POLITICAL POEMS FOR ISHMAEL REED

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FOUR POLITICAL POEMS
FOR ISHMAEL REED

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Notes from Virginia

After my presidency
And sojourn down there
In humid Foggy Bottoms

I just couldn’t wait
To get back to my wives
Especially the mulatto one

Sally Hemings
She be my favorite wife
She cooks grits just right

We made love in bed
While I sealed the deal
The Louisiana Purchase

We dine tonight
With my other 10 wives
Bill of Rights bingo

Reedoku
(Japanese/English)

Watashi o kkoro wa
Koware yasui desu
Otoshite kudasai

My heart be plastic—
Unbreakable Tupperware
Good for leftovers.

Strom Thurmond Paradox
—for Ishmael Reed

In the country of bubblehead
The dummies are queens
My husband’s Strom Thurmond
Resurrected from the dead
Senator famous for
“Take me—not my wife”

His eyes are South Carolina
Skin white sugar white
He knows all the women
Black or white
He’s got a mulatto daughter
She’s got Strom’s grace.

Deep South cravings
Just like mine
Mint juleps at night
On the verandah
He be freaky like
Flannery O’Connor.

We do the beltway
Schmooze with TPTB
Rich & famous bureaucrats
Conniving lobbyists
Cloakroom quickies
He’s got lotsa class.

Stanford

Pretty soon
A black man will have to
Have a passport
To enter Stanford.

To pass thru—
The 2 jinxed-cross palms
Of the conservative
Hoover Institute.

But look at it
This way the chicks
At Stanford are all
Blond & fuckable.