Dog Star (Serious Eyes)
- Dog Star (Serious Eyes)
[1]
Blackbyrd’s on The verge, about To lift off,
Fly on. Not since The one atop The pyramid
Have we witnessed An eye in as much Heat as Byrd’s
—George’s fixed Third one For HBO doesn’t
Really count, Didn’t really bite Or bark nights
When Fifi & Pup Needed roof Over sucker most.
[2]
Blackbyrd’s gettin’ It on, cloaked in Scorched skulls,
Fly on. One for Every beakful Of bones he’s [End Page 80]
Unburied and lifted Back into Space, Blessed Blackness,
Fly on. Not since You-Know-Who Nut his Nubian
And chased us Up & down alley- way have we
Eye witnessed So much stray light, Six black packs,
[3]
Fly on. A trillion Unleashed naps. One every starry
Night neck itch Told him he should Doo doo his own
Licking rather Than sick & set And scratch & stare.
Thomas Sayers Ellis, an associate editor of Callaloo, is an instructor of African American literature and creative writing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He recently received the MFA in creative writing at Brown University, a few years after he co-founded the Dark Room Writers Collective. He is a co-editor of On the Verge: Emerging Poets and Artists and one of the emerging poets collected in Take Three. His work has also been published in Agni, Callaloo, Kenyon Review, Southern Review, The Harvard Review, and Ploughshares.
