Mockingbirds like a boombox in the deciduous trees.
Toddlers expel tiny winds from their bodies
in Cadmon park. Wake up Raheem.
The L train shrieks like Walt Whitman
after losing a manuscript of Leaves of Grass
in the East River. Wake up Raheem;
it was all a dream. The men who approached
you were made of leaves. Their guns
were made of leaves. Their nightsticks–
crazy leaves. Their legs, their teeth–
Raheem’s eulogy still spoken
in the streets of Bed-Stuy.
Birdsong sweet like raisins
in the deciduous trees. Brooklyn,
you hear that? Hands fighting themselves
in my chest. One hand is love
the other hate. For months, then years,
they clap at each other like mouths,
until they know each other so well
they both belong.
Note: This poem is in response to the 1989 Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing
Dolapo Demuren
Dolapo Demuren is a Nigerian-American writer from the Washington D.C. area. His honors include Pushcart Prize nominations, fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation and The Academy for Teachers, and scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. His poems and other writings are featured in the Adroit Journal, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland College Park.
