…Emmett till was kidnapped and murdered.

In my latest collection of poetry, “The Black Blood of Poetry,” which I am shopping around, the title poem begins with the murder of Emmett Till. For those not familiar with poetic forms, “The Black Blood of Poetry” utilizes the Pantoum, a Malay form, which lends itself to eulogies:

His beaten and bloated corpse for the world to see.

Look what white folk did to this little Black Boy!

“No way I could describe what was in that box!”

Mamie Till Bradley said of what had been her son.

Look what white folk did to that little Black Boy,

This “’Chicago boy,’ stirring up trouble” in Ole Miss.

Mamie Till Bradley said of what had been her son,

Beaten beyond recognition, pistol-whipped with a gun.

This “’Chicago boy,’ stirring up trouble” in Ole Miss,

White Citizens’ Council of America members declare.

Beaten beyond recognition, pistol-whipped with a gun –

Lynched as an example for which white folks do stand.

White Citizens’ Council of America members declare,

Violence as a tool to keep Black folk in their place –

Lynching as an example for which white folks do stand.

His beaten and bloated corpse for the world to see.

In the Blood Cotton Fields of Ole Miss,

Perhaps a clue to Till’s kidnapping unearthed.
The Association’s Field Secretary, disguised as a cotton picker,

Makes his way through red soil fecund with Black blood.

A clue to Till’s kidnapping unearthed in the Blood Cotton fields of Ole Miss?

The River, his penultimate resting place, his beaten and bloated body buoyed,

Floating, not wading in the water – not found in the soil fecund with Black blood.

Look what white folk did to that little Black Boy!

The River, his penultimate resting place, his beaten and bloated body buoyed,

Revealed, a Testament of white Southern violence writ large on Black bodies.

Look what white folk did to that little Black Boy!

An Apocalyptic American Nightmare, foreshadowing the fire next time.

A Testament of white Southern violence writ large on Black Bodies –

Burn, baby, burn, white folk sing as beaten Black bodies burn on bonfires of hate,

An Apocalyptic American Nightmare, foreshadowing the fire next time,

War in the Blood Cotton fields of Ole Miss.