Thumpasorus Peoples (The Thumps Bump) b/w Brand New Brand Name: For Dominic Taylor
- Thumpasorus Peoples (The Thumps Bump) b/w Brand New Brand NameFor Dominic Taylor
(The thumps bump / bump the bump bump / bump the thumps bump / bump the bump bump / booty booty.)
Side A
In the beginning There was The One
That didn’t wanna Be called Billy,
So One split Cause Billy didn’t fit And the void
Bass lit was filled By a new one—
Bootsy, didn’t wanna Be called William,
So One quit Cause William tripped And the void
Bass lit was filled By another one—
Boogie, didn’t wanna Be called Cordell, [End Page 82]
So One broke Cause Cordell choked And the void
Bass lit was filled By the next one—
Skeet, didn’t wanna Be called Rodney,
So One run Cause Rodney’s no fun And the void
Bass lit was filled By a sturdy one—
Cherokee, didn’t wanna Be called Jeff,
So One crept Cause Jeff wasn’t def And the void
Bass lit was filled By the current one—
Lige, didn’t wanna Be called Curry,
So One listened Cause Lige sounded different And the void
Bass lit was filled By everyone.
Side B
Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new, [End Page 83] Papa’s gotA brand new,
Braaaaaaaand—
Maceo, who— Parker. Any kin To Charlie,
Who, Parker— Blow. Any kin To Ray,
Who Parker— No. Any kin To Chan,
Who, Charlie— Blow. Would you Buy a shirt
From this man? No. A b/w television Or an 8-track tape player
From this man? Yo. Depends. What’s his name?
Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new,
Braaaaaaaand—
George, who— Clinton. Any kin To Bill,
Who, Clinton— Blow. Any kin To Washington, [End Page 84]
Who, George— No. Any kin To Jefferson,
Who, Clinton— Blow. Would you Buy Free Speech
From this man? No. The right to vote Or a bucket of wings
From this man? Yo. Depends. What’s His last name?
Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new, Braaaaaaaand—
James, who— Brown. Any kin To Charlie,
Who, Brown— Blow. Any kin To Birmingham,
Who, James— No. Any kin To Cleveland,
Who, Brown— Blow. Would you Buy a vowel
From this man? No. A silver spaceship Parked next to a pyramid [End Page 85]
From this man? Yo. Depends. What’s My man’s name again?
Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new, Braaaaaaaand—
Arsenio, who— Parker. Any kin To Pappy,
Who, Parker— Blow. Any kin To Pee Wee,
Who, Herman— No. Any kin To Ashford,
Who, Simpson— Blow. Would you Buy an alibi
From this man? No. An old jersey Or the right to remain silent
From this man? Yo. Depends. What’s his uh?
Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new,Papa’s gotA brand new, Brand name.
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.
