o harlem revisited
for jack micheline

o harlem  why do
confederate sons  carry gangster
guns into  the french
quarter?  the dreams
of ignatius j.  reilly are
referred to  as ghost
stories o  harlem jack
micheline was  the jewish
prizefighter that  prayed for
this hurricane  to be
strong like  ahab's resolve
cuz america  needs a
white whale  was he
right to  believe in
spirits? are  we all
just dead  indians like
ghandi and  charles olson?
o harlem  dorothy left
her dancing  shoes in
kansas cuz   the wiz
said she   was beat
praying to   spirts wrapped
up in   the heart
of the   wichita vortex
charlie plymell  what did
you see?  a reason
to start  fresh o
harlem america  stole our
language and  called her
wisdom voodoo  when is
a blessing  a blessing?
when is  a curse
a curse?  o harlem
if you  have to ask
why bob   kaufman was
sad  you just
don't get  it if
you have   to ask
why claude  mckay was
angry your  revolution was
just dumb  luck o
harlem haven't  we paid
enough for  our name
brand revolution?  o harlem
can you  hear us?
seagulls weeping  on the
sands of  the modern
age the  ghost of
roy orbison   is crying
sou
lfully crying  o harlem
the birth  of a
nation has  murdered our
renaissance portrait   of sunlight
o harlem   your blues
have simply  become bad
juju  souring   the vine
with your  strange fruit
cut that   soulful shit
out o  harlem sweet
innocent child  like
harlem didn't  anyone tell
you there's  just  no room
for your  naive brand
of experience?  o harlem
do you  know any
good war  stories that
would fit   into a
ninety second   sound bite?
cuz i'm   getting bored

with your  american dreams

John Dorsey currently resides in Toledo, OH.  He is the author of "harvey keitel, harvey keitel, harvey keitel" with S.A. Griffin and Scott Wannberg, Butcher Shop Press/Rose of Sharon Press/Temple of Man, 2005, and he can be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com