The Collected Poems of Lorenzo Thomas. Lorenzo Thomas

      

      THE COLLECTED POEMS OF Lorenzo Thomas

      WESLEYAN POETRY

      THE COLLECTED POEMS OF Lorenzo Thomas

      Edited by ALDON LYNN NIELSEN and LAURA VRANA

      WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS Middletown, Connecticut

      Wesleyan University Press

      Middletown CT 06459

       www.wesleyan.edu/wespress

      © 2019 The Estate of Lorenzo Thomas

      All rights reserved

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      Designed by Richard Hendel

      Typeset in Miller and TheSerif by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.

      Cover art: John Biggers, “Four Sisters” (1986).

      Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia.

      Used with permission.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      NAMES: Thomas, Lorenzo, 1944–2005, author. | Nielsen, Aldon Lynn, editor. | Vrana, Laura, editor.

      TITLE: The collected poems of Lorenzo Thomas / edited by Aldon Lynn Nielsen and Laura Vrana.

      OTHER TITLES: Poems

      DESCRIPTION: Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press, [2019] | Series: Wesleyan poetry | Summary: "Lorenzo Thomas's Collected Poems is a thorough retrospective of the work of a poet of the Black Arts Movement in the United States in the 20th century. Often engaged with political and social upheavals, for example the civil rights movement and Vietnam War, Thomas uses formal experimentation and elements of music and pop culture to reflect upon the transforming experience of being an ‘American."'— Provided by publisher.

      IDENTIFIERS: LCCN 2019030467 (print) | LCCN 2019030468 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819578983 (cloth) | ISBN 9780819578990 (paperback) | ISBN 9780819579003 (ebook)

      CLASSIFICATION: LCC PS3570.H568 2019 (print) | LCC PS3570 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019030467

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019030468

      5 4 3 2 1

      Front cover illustration: “Four Sisters,” John Biggers, 1986. Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.

       CONTENTS

      Preface by Laura Vrana xiii

      Introduction by Aldon Lynn Nielsen xxi

       A Note on the Texts xxix

       EARLY CRIMES 1

       [The way Egyptians used to sit …] 3

       The Unnatural Life 6

       One Never Knows, Do One 7

       Negritude 8

       Domestic Horror 9

       Toil 10

       Embarkation for Cythera 11

       The Blond Sinner 13

       Economics 14

       How Can I Prove I Am Not Modigliani 16

       Great Love Duets 18

       Engagement 22

       The Convention 24

       Song 27

       DRACULA 29

       Dracula 31

       THE BATHERS 37

       Onion Bucket 39

       Twelve Gates 40

       Other Worlds 42

       I Just Want to Reach Out and Bite You Baby 43

       The Bathers 45

       The Lion Is the Lamb 49

       Anubis 51

       FIT MUSIC 53

       Proem 55

       Fit Music 57

       Envoy 70

       SLUM DAYS AFTER THE WAR 73

       Wonders 75

       Enlightenment 77

       Survivors 79

       Heavenly Bodies 80

       Faith 82