Rustum Kozain
Again Mingus behind me somewhere
at full stomp moaning, oh lord,
moaning moaning out loud, oh lord;
me in the kitchen, hands spread out
over spices smoothed down for roasting.
I’m a piano man burning in my mind.
And I time it without time
just short of three minutes on a clock
frozen somewhere I've forgotten to look
and for that flash of the eternal, I swear,
for that flush, for once believe me,
for that flush of no time
when I am people of people,
orang-orang and watu,
when I am batu, vanhu, abantu,
floating free for minutes
from that crow, squat on my shoulders
claws hooked into my trapezius
beak buried in the neck
drilling down to the medulla
retching regurgitating poisoning
with the food of the gods:
the emesis of power,
the poisons of nation and race.
Featured at The Red Wheelbarrow on 16 June 2022