Staffrider Vol.6 No.2 1985 - DISA

R regnancyf A poem should be palpable and muteAs a globed fruitDumbAs old medallions to the thumb.. . . A poem should not meanbut be.'Archibald MacLeish believesa poem should not meanbut be (as a dumb fruit,I think he said)but like Baraka sometimesI think a poem must be mean(fuck poems and they are useful)to be intelligiblehere.For instancemy wife seems to be pregnant,expanding parcel of fleshin which the bomb of the futurekicks its tiny feetArchibald MacLeishKelwvn Soleakua'baI have felt your fisttug my haircleaved your body to my backand known the weight is blessedtouch the wombto truthwhere all seedfalls in silenceKelwyn Sole* An akua'ba is a Ghanaian fertility doll women carry on their backswhen they are having difficulty conceiving.(I write this down to form it:anneal to husband and poetin the cosy mansion of the poemwhen the outside world is too coldor quiet to love her in).But, today war has descended on ussuddenly and finally.Tongues lash out at enemies,the radios one can buygoosestep as soon as pluggedtheir collective noise poppingmy speech's flimsy bubble.From this poemthe news is I am warm,and sit in front of a veering firewhich unfortunately used to bemy housewhile words' meanings tick in my throat,nervously.Kelwyn SoleA KUA'BA*The wind of Godrattles pods to pollenwhen women choose their timewith minds bound in rainbowsbut my lover is a snakehis eyes ashard as jewelsTWO JERUSALEM GATESThe Golden Gate is always shut,the Dung Gate always open.That seems about right.Human beings are full of shit.Gods come only once.So we kill them, then sitpraying for miracles.JERUSALEM FREAKS ISome madmen in this city saythe Messiah could arriveany day. What an amazingevent that would be; blazingGlory at the Golden Gate, sweetnesson the air: it would be He.What I wonder is:would it feature in the supplementto the Jerusalem Post? ThatChrist had arrived with hisheavenly host? Would we stopand stare on our way to town?Would it bring the Likud and inflationdown?The whole city restson this fantastic hope.Cherrv ClaytonBut if it really happened —would they callthe Pope?JERUSALEM FREAKS IIHoly cities must breedoddballs. They sticklike Jerusalem fliesto a place where they can feelit's real. God might be here.In the menatime, there's tonsof dope.And if he's not here nowhe might come soon. Wow.Outasight. Over the moon.It's better to be stonedthan sorry. They liveon hope.So loony people with glowing eyeswander about. Their lips move.If they can hang in here whereit might, one day, all hang out,they might just find it:boundless love.Cherry Clayton34 STAFFRIBER, VOL. 6 NO. 2, 1985