One With Others: [A Little Book of Her Days] by C. D. Wright Read Free Book Online Page B

of Negro caseworker.
Death of a Gunfighter ends Wednesday.
ELSEWHERE:
Camille pummels Gulf.
Israeli jets attack Egypt.
Squads ready to break up Irish riots.
Sept 3 marks the death of Ho.
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Harry says, What we really want from our time on this planet, is that which is not this, we want the ethical this; we want to feel and transmit.
It is known that when a blackbird calls in the marsh all sound back and if one note is missing all take notice. This is the solidarity we are born to.
King said no one could be an outsider who lived inside these borders. There are no Invaders.
What the white man wanted, no less than complete control.
Who expected the sidewalks cleared when they came down them [as in the days of the Raj].
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The boys hid under the reverend’s vehicle. I can’t say if the reverend knew they were there. I can’t say if he didn’t know. He probably knew. They hid on the concrete slab under the block. They held their breath and listened. One of them was hurt pretty bad. And the patriarch, the flat-fixer, lost an eye.
Hateful words survive in sticky clumps
Furry thoughts skid across the yellow line
And over the muddy embankment.
Big enough to hunt, being hunted.
Says the sheriff, Nowadays you can’t
Even say chigger you have to say Cheegro.
They fired the flat-fixer. They fired him after they put out his eye. The eel in the L’Anguille never were. The flat-fixer who said he’d get the radio fixed. He knew who could fix it. They fired him. Never held an eel, she just slithered. The fixer, they said, stole their shortwave. He had it fixed. They fired him. But first they put out his eye. So they named it L’Anguille. And the Mississippi receives them both, but you wouldn’t notice now. It’s casino to casino from here to the Big Easy. The other river, that would be the St. Francis.
They said they would take this harm. They would take it this time, would move on. They would walk away, walk away. Turn a blind eye. They would go forward into the seasons of their lives. They would see the sun shiver as it disappeared behind willow and cottonwood, the blackbird threading the phone lines, the combine continuing to rust on its haunches. They would not be deformed by this hatefulness. Nor be comforted by religion [though would be their women]. But if anyone ever touched any of them ever again. They would put this town on the map. They made their pact. They took the no-quarter oath. They were eight men strong. And they meant it, Gentle Reader. They meant it.
Outside of North Little Rock they are joined by a Quaker.
From ONE TOO YOUNG TO JOIN THE UPRISING: The all-Negro elementary school was behind the all-Negro junior high. They were letting us out early. The troopers were there. We wanted to see. We wanted to see the goings-on. I got to watch a couple of chairs fly out the window is all. And here come my loving mother to keep her baby out of harm’s way.
THE RETIRED WELDING TEACHER: After they put us in the pool, they taunted us. With chimp chants. They brought a TV and set it up and made us watch Tarzan. They wouldn’t let us sleep. They made us watch.
ONE OF THE STUDENTS ARRESTED AND PUT IN THE POOL: They arrested us in the morning and drove us around until dark. They told us all kind of things. But we didn’t know what they were going to do with us. The last thing my mother said before I left the house—Don’t you get in that line. Don’t you get in that line, girl. Stay away. Remain calm. I won’t even come see you if you go to jail. But later I found out she did try to see me. They gave us hand-me-down books. Turn to page 51, the teacher would say. It would be torn out. Lunch was slabs of butter between two pieces of bread. Milk usually spoiled and it cost 2¢.
GRADUATE OF ALL-WHITE HIGH SCHOOL, First Year of Choice: You have to understand about my mom, if she calls us up at three in the morning, and says, she wants ice cream, you get dressed and go buy ice cream. Even if you have to drive to Memphis. If