New Blues
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We are hurting We are dying For a new blues One that doesn't rhyme With worn-out shoes We are hurting We are dying For a neo blues More than an inverted pyramid Something to push against To get to the evidence Inside us Forget the applause machine Forget the corporate lotto Forget he alchemist's gold scheme And you can ditto The sphinx's motto We are hurting We are dying For a nouveau blues To underline What's left behind Forget the Nazi doll Designed in Detroit And made in Beijing Forget about this Contagious computer virus Travelling up the Tigris Forget Batman In this postmodern Fantasia Amnesia [End Page 573] A new shade of blue One hundred hues Down from the stratosphere Up from the Red Sea A hell of a journey We are hurting We are dying For a brand-new Blues
Yusef Komunyakaa, the subject of this issue of Callaloo, teaches at Princeton University. His most recent book of poems is Taboo: The Wishbone Trilogy, Part I. The numerous prizes, awards and honors he has received for his poetry include a chancellorship with the American Academy of Poets, the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (Wesleyan University), the William Faulkner Prize (Universite Rennes, France), the Kingsley Tufts Award for Poetry, and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
