Fall Down
In memory of Eric Dolphy
All men are locked in their cells.
Though we quake
In fist of body
Keys rattle, set us free.
I remember and wonder why?
In fall, in summer; times
Will be no more. Journeys
End.
I remember and wonder why?
In the sacred labor of lung
Spine and groin,
You cease, fly away
To what? To Autumn, to
Winter, to brown leaves, to
Wind where no lark sings; yet
Through dominion of air, jaw and fire
I remember!
Eric Dolphy, you swung
A beautiful axe. You lived a clean
Life.
You were young —
You died.
D Blues
D blues
What you woke up wit
Dhis mourning
What you toss and turn
All night in your bed wit
Nothing, no
One in your arms
No
Body.
Dats
What D blues
Is.
___________________
Calvin C. Hernton
Selected Poems of Calvin C. Hernton
Wesleyan, 2023
