I'll Fly Away
- I’ll Fly Away
O, young black American teenaged boy-child, I know what runs through your head In Venice at the bridge at Accademia. A bit of lire has slipped from your pocket, A young, white foreign woman has seen this, picks it up, and calls for your attention. Your cautious response Is more than a difference of tongues. Your body tenses; a traditional brace for the blues.
She is smiling and tries to hand Your money back. A bit of you is still back in the States, Where a simple exchange like this sometimes hides a stiff reminder. Clearly, my brother, this isn’t the world
We come from. In mid-day Venice You move towards her outstretched arm a little slower than shy, As if you’ll have need of a sober witness, as if this is where you know The experiment ends, and memory dogs ‘round the corner.
Cornelius Eady is author of five books of poetry: Kartunes, Victims of the Latest Dance Craze (winner of the 1985 Lamont Poetry Prize), The Gathering of My Name, You Don’t Miss Your Water, and The Autobiography of a Kikebox. He is the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including an NEA Fellowship in Literature, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry, and a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Traveling Scholarship.
