Aug
13
2014
Poem of the Day: Death in Yorkville by Langston Hughes
Death In Yorkville
(James Powell, Summer, 1964)
by Langston Hughes
How many bullets does it take
To kill a fifteen-year-old kid?
How many bullets does it take
To kill me?
How many centuries does it take
To bind my mind — chain my feet —
Rope my neck — lynch me —
Unfree?
From the slave chain to the lynch rope
To the bullets of Yorkville,
Jamestown, 1619 to 1963:
Emancipation Centennial —
100 years NOT free.
Civil War Centenntial: 1965
How many Centennials does it take
To kill me,
Still alive?
When the long hot summers come
Death ain’t
No jive.
Uncategorized | prison culture | 13 August 2014 |
