Crowd at a Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party meeting in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, July 1964, Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, USM
āPoetry is always dissident.ā
āOctavio Paz
It was muted Miles when we
Woke Saturday mornings.
When we rose from slumber
to scents of sausage, potatoes,
bacon, eggs and coffee ā¦
It was muted Miles when we
Woke to fragrances wafting
from Sunbeam waffle iron.
Maybe manicures and pedicures, post-
breakfast? Maybe, on his way to
Work, the barber would pick us up for
close-cropped hair and nourishing adult
ear worms?
Maybe Iād be pitching? Brother
Steve catchingāor gobbling
up ground balls at second base?
My Mother could organize all that!
Then rip apron off, gavel meetings
to order. Pull together picket lines;
Run California assembly and senate
campaignsāOr, settle long, long-
simmering disputes. She came equipped.
No cape. No āSā on her chest. No
unusual way of getting around. She
was just Mom ā¦
Crazy Mom. Invited me to attend
a meeting with her. My response:
āI donāt wanna go to your political meetingsā
I just wanna play Little League Baseball!ā
Her muted Miles replyā¦ āBaby, everythingās
Politicalā¦ How do you think your park got
there? How do you think your coach got hired?
Everythingās political, baby.ā
Ā© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at GoFundMe and PayPal.
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