SUBJECT>Bloodsworth (CTG) POSTER>Christopher T George EMAIL>editorcg@yahoo.com DATE>1111072376 IP_ADDRESS>mail.acog.org PASSWORD>aaXga4uf0tS3k PREVIOUS> NEXT> 84907 IMAGE> LINKNAME>Poetry by Christopher T George LINKURL>http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net/index.htm

Bloodsworth

Ebony on the wharf at Annapolis, Kunte Kinte and his kin,
sold for their strength and muscle tone to colonial planters.
Your high cheekbones and imperial bearing: easy
to believe you an African prince, Chaka Zulu or Cetawayo,
your adopted African name belying your misspent
youth as a punk kid running the streets of West Baltimore.

Your probable predecessor asks the Navy to reassess
bombing Bloodsworth Island in Chesapeake Bay,
demands an environmental study; their live-fire
bombing/strafing could impact oysters and crabs,
the Bay's frail ecosystem. Ah, but the Navy says,
in a war we need practice strikes on Bloodsworth
to prep for battlefield runs in the far-off wars,
conflicts fought by kids from the black ghettoes.

The same day, you, the aspiring senatorial candidate
arrive by limo at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, feted
as triumphant warrior, the successful black graduated
from the crack-streets you knew as a thug before you
ascended to the corridors of power. Five sons born
out of wedlock support you as supporters circulate,
munch hors d'oeuvres. A fifth of twenty-something
black men in the prison system, West Baltimore
breathes and seethes outside the designer windows.

Christopher T. George