The Bayou Negro Lay (James Earl Anthony- New Orleans, LA)

Lay me down sweet Nola Negro man; The touch of your brittle barred hand

Scraped across my fair pasty body; A kiss from your almond delight lips

A spark from my plump red lips, On the bayou we lay in secret

You on top, I on bottom

Strong ox arms with no secret wonder

You built many a house with those barred hands; Legs fast as the rising cheetah awaking for Africa

Hair crisp as the night sunset, Slick as the warmest treasure

Golden eyes burdened with soulless creation, love for me

A backbone scarred with sacred whips from hell

Voice of a triumphant African king; Hold me close my Nola Negro man

Let me not go until the erased time Or when white man discover

Ginger and Negro lay on the bayou, time on our hands in the sweet tall grass

I on top, you on bottom

Placing your barred hands upon my hips,thrust in motion of love set aflame

For all nature to witness, love between white man, black man

The still rod of lust no more filled with a heart in souls uncompared

Fill my desire Nola Negro man

Lay me softly on the bayou set aflame the sweet desire within our eyes

No love Uncle Tom can compare

Sweet Nola Negro Man, I long for thee touch

My sweet gentle Nola Negro Man, running time, north bound

Love bound, conquered not

On the bayou we lay my sweet Nola Negro man

Amongst the tall grass where white man can’t see

On the bayou we lay, with love in our soul

Comments

Come Hither (Annette Redmond Walters - Lafayette, LA)

I meant it not this way but the tears just flow and my makeup smearing all the more, leaving behind that familiar filthy residue. I may have begun to drive myself away, dragging you down as well. But it's done, I've flipped the switch and now it's dark once more. How painful is the music to my ears, I can't stand to be alone in it, yet here I am again. I pray you fly back and safely and warmly to me, though I fear I've dug the grave too deeply. As the dirt shifts within my soul, I choke on those loving words I'd meant for you. All the fragments of light I see becoming smaller and I wish to be near you in your embrace that might make me feel the warmth I'm missing. And in reality, I doubt I'd breathe another breath without you. So come hither and quickly soothe my dying heart, you are the only cure I know. I cry and cry again, come hither to heal and love me. Come hither and help me dry my tears.

Let That Fucker Burn (John Chenvert - Napoleonville, LA)

Let that fucker burn. Let the fire crackle like the whips once did— like bone meeting leather, like screams swallowed by the trees. Let the white columns crumble to ash. Not as tragedy— but as truth, unearthing itself from beneath generations of silence. Nottoway is not a mansion. It’s a mausoleum. A lie carved in stone to honor the hands that held the whip, not the backs that bore it. They called it the “White Castle.” A place of beauty. A place for weddings, for photo ops, for pretending that horror can be made elegant if the curtains match the guilt. But no paint can cover what happened there. Blood doesn’t wash out with white linens. And pain doesn’t forget just because you renamed it history. I’m not Black. And I won’t pretend to carry that weight. But I also won’t ignore it. My people—the Guanches—were taken too. Our language silenced. Our land stolen. Our names nearly erased. So yes, I know colonization. Yes, I know what it means to be disappeared. But I also know this— my skin ...

The Peculiar New Room (Nick Perere - Baton Rouge, LA)

A peculiar fourth room has appeared in my three bedroom abode. High ceilings Higher than any ceiling in the house Perfectly pristine whitewashed gallery walls The largest window one can imagine Stretching from floor to ceiling Wide as an ocean’s horizon Revealing the lushest greenery and the bluest skies. I am meant to show masterpieces here. But in one of the corners o f the perfectly pristine whitewashed gallery walls i s an ugly patch of dirt. Dirt darker than charred coal. And the dirt is crawling And multiplying. With their spindly legs and dangly antennae Vermin covered in filth and willingly ready to spread their germs Scuffing the perfectly pristine whitewashed gallery walls. But I have to move on, I have a gallery to exhibit. Smile and act as if nothing is wrong. Come. Enjoy the show. Enjoy the artwork hanging Upon the perfectly pristine whitewashed gallery walls.

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