Exchange in greed the ungraceful signs. Thrust <br />The thick notes between green apple breasts. <br />Then the shadow of the devil descends, <br />The violent space cries and angel eyes, <br />Large and dark, retreat in innocence and in ice. <br />(Run sister run—the Bugga man comes!) <br /> <br />The violent space cries silently, <br />Like you cried wide years ago <br />In another space, speckled by the sun <br />And the leaves of a green plum tree, <br />And you were stung <br />By a red wasp and we flew home. <br />(Run sister run—the Bugga man comes!) <br /> <br />Well, hell, lil sis, wasps still sting. <br />You are all of seventeen and as alone now <br />In your pain as you were with the sting <br />On your brow. <br />Well, shit. lil sis, here we are: <br />You and I and this poem. <br />And what should I do? should I squat <br />In the dust and make strange markings on the ground? <br />Shall I chant a spell to drive the demon away? <br />(Run sister run—the Bugga man comes!) <br /> <br />In the beginning you were the Virgin Mary, <br />And you are the Virgin Mary now. <br />But somewhere between Nazareth and Bethlehem <br />You lost your name in the nameless void. <br />'O Mary don't you weep don't you moan' <br />O Mary shake your butt to the violent juke, <br />Absord the demon puke and watch the whites eyes pop, <br />(Run sister run—the Bugga man comes!) <br /> <br />And what do I do. I boil my tears in a twisted spoon <br />And dance like an angel on the point of a needle. <br />I sit counting syllables like Midas gold. <br />I am not bold. I cannot yet take hold of the demon <br />And lift his weight from you black belly, <br />So I grab the air and sing my song. <br />(But the air cannot stand my singing long.)<br /><br />Etheridge Knight<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-violent-space-or-when-your-sister-sleeps-around-for-money/
