Arts for the 21st Century

Another Meditation on Yellow

tiz zwazo is not

a yellow bird

she don’t belong

choucoune yes

but not she

 

neither

canaries

but for mutual

expendability

 

the yellow

shouldered

grass quit does

 

and the beautiful

almost-all-over-gold

Jamaican oriole

 

spindalis

with splendid

gleaming

throat

 

sunflowers

are not ours

neither rudbeckia

nor jonquils

nor daffodils

 

ours are poui

and acacia

showers

gilt poinciana

glorious

and rare

 

we’ll share

the flesh of

avocados

pineapples

oranges and lemons

 

(bells of St Clements

finally on hold)

 

egg yolks and pee

jaundice and pus

and tawny teeth

belong to all of us