Grandpa’s Spells 84
Historiography 86
Liner Notes 89
Brother Me 90
Sea of Chance (A Sailor Song) 94
Sugar Hill 100
Fly Society 101
To Speak of Woe That Is in Marrakesh 102
Better Physics 103
While Madness Reigns 106
Serpent Guerillas 108
Work Song 111
Framing the Sunrise 115
Fatiha 121
A Song for the Banana Tree Sleeping in My Yard 125
Cosmic Communion 126
Blues Cadet 128
Paul Laurence Dunbar Views the Sword of Toussaint L’Ouverture, Chicago Exposition 1893 129
Euphemysticism 130
Suicide Administration 137
Ancient Habits or Customs 138
Mouthology 139
Hurricane Doris 141
Evry Mae 144
Sprucing Spring up on Larkin Street 146
Another Poem in English 147
Rhumba Negro 151
False Alarm 152
R & B 153
The Architecture of Devotion 154
Saint 155
Witches 158
High Heel Jesus 160
Collective Poems 161
Spiritual 163
House of Red Lights 166
Sounds of Joy 169
They’ll Be Back 173
Le Zodico Ne Pas Seul 174
Jubilee 175
A Native Guide 181
Pyramids 182
The New Borning 183
More Than Nothing 184
The Persuader 185
A Judge 186
Duds 187
My Calling 188
The Offering 189
Speak Low 190
Low Speech 191
Electricity on Earth 192
Arc in the Dark 193
Magnetism 194
The Universe 195
There’s a Lot of Wisdom Here 196
One More Chance 197
What I Would Prefer 198
We Are Beautiful African People 199
Protection 200
Look What You Done for Me 201
Possession 202
Obedience 203
Oil of Gladness 204
My Office 207
I. THE FINE CLOTHES OF YEAR BEFORE LAST 209
Inauguration 210
The Fine Clothes of Year before Last 211
Farting as Decency 213
Security 214
Personal Anthropology 216
Broadway–Lafayette Espadrille 217
Euchre Bridge 221
Wheeling 222
Too Loud for Names 224
The Rule of Thumb 225
II. THEY NEVER LOSE 231
The Leopard 232
They Never Lose 233
Too Much One Thing, Not Enough Somewhat Else 239
Choosing Metals 242
Guilt 243
Canzone 244
Sketches of Susan 245
Electricity of Blossoms 248
Hiccups 250
Instructions for Your New Osiris 254
Shake Hands with Your Bets, Friend 256
III. THE MARVELOUS LAND OF INDEFINITIONS 260
The Marvelous Land of Indefinitions 261
When Dukardo Boarded the Astro-Jet, He Already Done Seen the Movie 264
Home X XI 266
MMDCCXIII ½ 267
An Excerpt from Big House Movies 268
Screen Test 272
Class Action 282
Hat Red 291
Clear Channel 295
IV. LIQUID CITY 296
Salt 297
Discovering America Again 298