″...don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul
are we animals? have we gone crazy?
i can’t hear anythin but maddening screams
and the soft strains of death
and promised me
you promised me...
somebody/anybody
sing a black girl’s song
bring her out
to know herself
to know you
but sing her rhythms
carin/ struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she’s been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn’t know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty
she’s half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the songs of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
and handled warmly.”
“Dark phrases of womanhood of never havin been a girl half-notes scattered without rhythm/no tune distraught laughter fallin over a black girl’s shoulder it’s funny/it’s hysterical the melody-lesslness of her dance don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul she’s a dancin on beer cans and shingles
this must be the spook house another song with no singers lyrics/ no voices and interrupted solos unseen performances
are we ghouls? children of horror? the joke?...”