Tuesday 10 September 2019

Tuesday Poem: "A Series of Haiku" by Etheridge Knight



Eastern guard tower 

glints in sunset; convicts rest 

like lizards on rocks. 



The piano man 

is stingy, at 3 A.M. 

his songs drop like plum. 



Morning sun slants cell. 

Drunks stagger like cripple flies 

On jailhouse floor. 



To write a blues song 

is to regiment riots 

and pluck gems from graves. 



A bare pecan tree 

slips a pencil shadow down 

a moonlit snow slope. 



The falling snow flakes 

Cannot blunt the hard aches nor 

Match the steel stillness. 



Under moon shadows 

A tall boy flashes knife and 

Slices star bright ice. 



In the August grass 

Struck by the last rays of sun 

The cracked teacup screams. 



Making jazz swing in 

Seventeen syllables AIN’T 

No square poet’s job. 

by Etheridge Knight

 For more information about the poet, Etheridge Knight, see:



No comments:

Post a Comment