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Author: KNIGHT, ETHERIDGE
Matches Found: 154


Knight, Etheridge    Poet's Biography
154 poems available by this author


A POEM FOR BLACK RELOCATION CENTERS    Poem Text    
First Line: Flukum couldn't stand the strain. Flukum
Last Line: The enemy far away on the other side of the sea
Subject(s): African Americans – Military; Negroes; American Blacks


A POEM FOR MYSELF    Poem Text    
First Line: I was born in mississippi
Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks


A WASP WOMAN VISITS A BLACK JUNKIE IN PRISON    Poem Text    
First Line: After explanations and regulations, he
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Prisons & Prisoners; Social Classes; Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse; Convicts; Caste


AND TELL ME POET, CAN LOVE EXIST IN SLAVERY       
First Line: Come then poet, and sing


ANOTHER POEM FOR ME (AFTER RECOVERING FROM AN O.D.)    Poem Text    
First Line: What now / what now dumb nigger damn near dead
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse


ANOTHER POEM FOR ME (AFTER RECOVERING FROM AN O.D.)       
First Line: What now %what now dumb nigger damn near dead
Last Line: Now that death has fled these quiet corridors
Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism


APOLOGY FOR APOSTASY?       
First Line: Soft songs, like birds, die in poison air


AS YOU LEAVE ME    Poem Text    
First Line: Shiny record albums scattered over
Subject(s): Prostitution; Harlots; Whores; Brothels


AS YOU LEAVE ME       
First Line: Shiny record albums scattered over
Subject(s): Prostitution


AT A VA HOSPITAL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UNITED STATES       
First Line: Stars from five wars, scars


BELLY SONG       
First Line: And I and I %must admit


BELLY SONG (FOR THE DAYTOP FAMILY)       
First Line: And I - and I -/must admit %that the sea in you
Last Line: That nearly swallowed you - %and me too
Variant Title(s): Belly Son


BIRTHDAY POEM       
First Line: The sun rose today, and


BLACK POET LEAPS TO HIS DEATH       
First Line: Was it a blast to the balls dear brother


BONES OF MY FATHER       
First Line: There are no dry bones
Subject(s): Men


BOONE COUNTY       
First Line: A blue pick %up truck


BOSTON 5:00 A.M. - 10/74       
First Line: Awake! For mornings


CAR ACCIDENT       
Last Line: Broke my bones. On the ward %I drove my ghost away


CELL SONG       
First Line: Night music slanted
Last Line: Can there anything %good come out of %prison


CIRCLING THE DAUGHTER    Poem Text    
First Line: You came / to be / in the month of malcolm
Last Line: You break my eyes with your beauty: / ooo-uu-oo-baby-I love you
Subject(s): Fathers & Daughters


CIRCLING THE DAUGHTER       
First Line: You came %to be %in the month of malcolm
Last Line: You break my eyes with your beauty: %ooouu-oo-baby-I-love-you
Subject(s): Fathers And Daughters


CLAY COUNTY       
First Line: Thunder in the hills


CON/TIN/U/WAY/SHUN BLUES       
First Line: Well, the las' time I saw my mother
Last Line: And most troubles will be gone


CONVERSATION WITH MYSELF       
First Line: What am I %doing here
Last Line: Where %I could talk bad


COP-OUT SESSION       
First Line: I done shot dope, been to jail, swilled


CROWN HILL CEMETERY, INDIANAPOLIS       
First Line: A black and white dog


DARK PROPHECY: I SING OF SHINE    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: And, yeah, brothers / while white/america sings about the unsink-
Subject(s): African Americans; Disasters; Ships & Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship); Negroes; American Blacks


DARK PROPHECY: I SING OF SHINE       
First Line: And, yeah, brothers %while white/america sings about the unsink-
Last Line: And when the news hit shore that the titanic had sunk %shinewas up in harlem damn near drunk
Subject(s): African Americans; Disasters; Ships And Shipping; Shipwrecks; Titanic (ship)


DEALING SCRAPS       
First Line: I must have back his breath
Last Line: Except this desperate love


EAT HELEN B HAPPY       


EVOLUTIONARY POEM NO. 1       
First Line: I ain't got nobody


EVOLUTIONARY POEM NO. 2       
First Line: We ain't got nobody


FABLE       
First Line: Once upon a today and yesterday and nevermore there were 7 men


FEELING FUCKED UP    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: Lord she's gone done left me done packed / up and split
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Men; Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse


FEELING FUCKED UP       
First Line: Lord she's gone done left me done packed %up and split
Last Line: The whole muthafucking thing %all I wnat now is my woman back %so my soul can sing
Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Men


FOR A BROOKLINE LADY I LOVE       
First Line: So %zoom %your special spot


FOR BLACK POETS WHO THINK OF SUICIDE    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: Black poets should live -- not leap
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Suicide


FOR BLACK POETS WHO THINK OF SUICIDE       
First Line: Black poets should live -- not leap
Last Line: And be buried in the dust of marching feet
Subject(s): Poetry And Poets; Suicide


FOR DAN BERRIGAN       
First Line: I don't know about you, whiteman all dressed in black


FOR ERIC DOLPHY       
First Line: On flute
Last Line: Got a whuppin
Subject(s): Dolphy, Eric (1928-1964); Jazz; Music And Musicians


FOR FRECKLED-FACED GERALD    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: Now you take ol rufus. He beat drums
Subject(s): African Americans; Prisons & Prisoners; Youth; Negroes; American Blacks; Convicts


FOR FRECKLED-FACED GERALD       
First Line: Now you take ol rufus. He beat drums
Last Line: And at night light upon his back
Subject(s): African Americans; Prisons And Prisoners; Youth


FOR LANGSTON HUGHES       
First Line: Gone gone


FOR MALCOLM, A YEAR AFTER    Poem Text    
First Line: Compose for red a proper verse
Last Line: But not the anger of that day
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


FOR MALCOLM, A YEAR AFTER       
First Line: Compose for red a proper verse
Last Line: But not the anger of that day
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


FOR MARY ELLEN MCANALLY       
First Line: Who is a white %woman %and


GENESIS       
First Line: The skin


GENESIS: 11       
First Line: The word, was, is, will, be


GREEN GRASS AND YELLOW BALLOONS       
First Line: The garden we walked in


HAIKU       
First Line: A slender finger of light


HAIKU       
First Line: Two hours I've walked


HAIKU       
First Line: Making jazz swing in
Last Line: No square poet's job


HAIKU       
First Line: In the august grass
Last Line: The cracked teacup screams


HAIKU       
First Line: Under moon shadows
Last Line: Slices star bright ice


HAIKU       
First Line: The falling snow leaves
Last Line: Match the steel stillness


HAIKU       
First Line: A bare pecan tree
Last Line: A moonlit snow slope


HAIKU       
First Line: To write a blues song
Last Line: And pluck gems from graves


HAIKU       
First Line: Morning sun slants cell
Last Line: On jailhouse floor


HAIKU       
First Line: The piano man
Last Line: His songs drop like plum


HAIKU       
First Line: Eastern guard tower
Last Line: Like lizards on rocks


HAIKU FOR THE HOMELESS       
First Line: O sister of mine!
Last Line: Groans: shame! Shame! Shame! My sister's %eyes moan: blame! Blame! Blame!


HAIKU: 1    Poem Text    
First Line: Eastern guard tower
Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts


HAIKU: 2    Poem Text    
First Line: The piano man
Subject(s): Music & Musicians


HAIKU: 3    Poem Text    
First Line: Morning sun slants cell.
Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts


HAIKU: 4    Poem Text    
First Line: To write a blues song
Subject(s): Song Writing


HAIKU: 5    Poem Text    
First Line: A bare pecan tree
Subject(s): Pecan Trees


HAIKU: 6    Poem Text    
First Line: The falling snow flakes
Subject(s): Snow; Pain; Suffering; Misery


HAIKU: 7    Poem Text    
First Line: Under moon shadows


HAIKU: 8    Poem Text    
First Line: In the august grass


HAIKU: 9    Poem Text    
First Line: Making jazz swing in
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Jazz


HARD ROCK RETURNS TO PRISON FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINAL INSANE    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: Hard rock / was / 'known not to take no shit
Subject(s): African Americans; Insanity; Korean War, 1950-1953; Prisons & Prisoners; Surgery; Negroes; American Blacks; Madness; Mental Illness; Convicts


HARD ROCK RETURNS TO PRISON FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINAL INSANE       
First Line: Hard rock / was / 'known not to take no shit
Last Line: Had cut deep bloody grooves %across our backs
Subject(s): African Americans; Insanity; Korean War, 1950-1953; Prisons And Prisoners; Surgery


HARLEM       
First Line: Streetwalking woman


HE PAID ME SEVEN        Recitation by Author


HE SEES THROUGH STONE        Recitation by Author


HE SEES THROUGH STONE    Poem Text    


HE SEES THROUGH STONE       
Last Line: He has the secret eyes %he sees through stone
Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners


I AM A TREE, MY LOVERS FLY TO AND FROM ME       
First Line: She appeared, soaring out the sunset
Last Line: Still afraid, and stones began to grow in our bed


I AND YOUR EYES       
First Line: And I and your eyes


I WATCH FROM AFAR       
Last Line: The fisher folk on fall creek. %it's spring, and I'm sick


IDEA OF ANCESTRY       
First Line: Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
Last Line: They are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no children to float in the space between
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors And Ancestry; Fathers; Korean War, 1950-1953; Men; Prayer; Prisons And Prisoners


ILU, THE TALKING DRUM       
First Line: The deadness was threatening us - 15 nigerians and 1 mississippi


INDIANA AVENUE, 1949       
First Line: Neons flash red and green


INDIANAPOLIS WAR MEMORIAL       
First Line: Young boys play in pairs


INDIANAPOLIS WINTER, 1973       
First Line: Icicles crack and drop


IT WAS A FUNKY DEAL    Poem Text    
Last Line: It was a funky deal
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965); Negroes; American Blacks


IT WAS A FUNKY DEAL       
Last Line: Like me you and bird. (and that %lil leroi cat.) %it was a funky deal


IT WAS A FUNKY DEAL       
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


JAZZ DRUMMER       
First Line: Max roach / has fire and steel in his hands
Subject(s): Jazz; Music & Musicians; Roach, Max (b. 1924)


JAZZ DRUMMER       
First Line: Max roach %has fire and steel in his hands
Last Line: Calls us all
Subject(s): Jazz; Music And Musicians; Roach, Max (b. 1924)


JUNKY'S SONG       
First Line: The pain, so real, so intense
Last Line: Father time, then blackest of blackness, standing still


KEEPING OF A PROMISE       
First Line: There %is %no moon tonight


LAST WORDS BY SLICK       
First Line: Now, when I %die, dont you bury me


MEMO #2       
First Line: The blood stepped


MEMO #32       
First Line: Joe williams is


MEMO #43       
First Line: You get the blues in twos


MEMO #5       
First Line: I do crazy things when


MEMO #9       
First Line: Doze o blk %capitalists


MIZZU       
First Line: Rotc march


MY LIFE, THE QUALITY OF WHICH    Poem Text    
Last Line: But you hav to feel for it
Subject(s): Life; Desperation


MY LIFE, THE QUALITY OF WHICH       


MY UNCLE IS MY HONOR AND A GUEST IN MY HOUSE       
First Line: In the center of the bloodvein


NO MOON FLOODS THE MEMORY OF THAT NIGHT       


O PRAYING MANTIS       
Last Line: Facing me, kneeling, why? %I hold no dominion


ON SEEING THE BLACK MALE AS #1 SEX OBJECT IN AMERICA       
First Line: There %are %black men in the south


ON THE BIRTH OF A BLACK BABY BOY       
First Line: In memphis - in tennessee


ON THE PROJECTS PLAYGROUND       
First Line: Say, mister


ON THE YARD    Poem Text    
First Line: A slim / young fascist
Last Line: Did I / completely
Subject(s): Men


ON THE YARD       
First Line: A slim %young fascist
Last Line: Not %did I %completely
Subject(s): Men


ON WATCHING POLITICIANS PERFORM    Poem Text    
First Line: Hypocrites shed tears
Last Line: With the ante raised
Subject(s): Politics & Government; Funerals; King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968)


ON WATCHING POLITICIANS PERFORM       
First Line: Hypocrites shed tears
Subject(s): Politics


ONCE ON A NIGHT IN THE DELTA: A REPORT FROM HELL       
First Line: Gravel rattles against the fenders of the van


OUTSIDE ST. LOUIS       
First Line: Route 66 curves


PENAL FARM       
First Line: The wire fence is tall


POEM FOR A CERTAIN LADY ON HER 33RD BIRTHDAY       
First Line: Who are we, s.S.


POEM FOR BLACK RELOCATION CENTERS       
First Line: Flukum couldn't stand the strain. Flukum
Last Line: The enemy far away on the other side of the sea
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR MYSELF       
First Line: I was born in mississippi
Last Line: Gonna be free in mississippi %or dead in the mississippi mud
Subject(s): African Americans


POEM FOR THE LIBERATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA       
First Line: Have danced in ecstasy


POEM OF ATTRITION       
First Line: I do not know if the color of the day
Last Line: Across the wide green water


POEM ON THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS.       
First Line: Israel a la begin, begins: 'we


POEM TO GALWAY KINNELL       
First Line: Saturday, april 26, 1973


PORTRAIT OF MALCOLM X       
First Line: He has the sign
Last Line: His forehead is red %and sacrosanct and %smooth as time and %love for you


PORTRAIT OF MARY       
First Line: My wife sleeps


PRISON GRAVEYARD       
First Line: The dying sun %slides over the tiger teeth
Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners


REHABILITATION & TREATMENT IN THE PRISONS OF AMERICA       
First Line: The convict strolled into the prison administration building to
Last Line: Door--and fell nine stories ot the street


REPORT TO THE MOTHER       
First Line: Well, things %be %pretty bad now, mother


RIVERSIDE PARK       
First Line: A brown oak tree leans


SONG OF THE HOMELESS       
First Line: I am not b'rer boll weaver
Last Line: I am a homeless person in this %land of the free, a homeless slave %in this land of the brave


STRETCHING OF THE BELLY       
First Line: Marks %of the mother are


SUN CAME       
First Line: The sun came, miss brooks
Last Line: And we goofed the whole thing. %I think. %(though ain't no vision visited my cell)
Subject(s): Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917-2000)


SUN CAME       
Subject(s): African Americans; Malcolm X (malcolm Little) (1925-1965)


TALKING IN THE WOODS WITH KARL AMORELLI       
First Line: The old toyota, green as a frog, coughs and clanks


TELEVISION SPEAKS    Poem Text    
Last Line: Buy “burgers” and sticky sweets
Subject(s): Television; News


TELEVISION SPEAKS       
Last Line: Buy 'burgers' and sticky sweets!


THE BONES OF MY FATHER    Poem Text    
First Line: There are no dry bones
Subject(s): Men


THE IDEA OF ANCESTRY    Poem Text     Recitation
First Line: Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
Subject(s): African Americans; Ancestors & Ancestry; Fathers; Korean War, 1950-1953; Men; Prayer; Prisons & Prisoners; Negroes; American Blacks; Heritage; Heredity; Convicts


THE SUN CAME    Poem Text    
First Line: The sun came, miss brooks
Subject(s): Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917-2000)


THE VIOLENT SPACE    Poem Text    
First Line: Exchange in greed the ungraceful signs. Thrust
Last Line: But the air cannot stand my singing long
Subject(s): Prostitution; Harlots; Whores; Brothels


TO DINAH WASHINGTON       
First Line: I have heard your voice floating, royal and real
Last Line: Some say you're sleeping, %but I say you're singing. %unforgettable queen


TO MAKE A POEM IN PRISON       
First Line: It is hard %to make a poem in prison
Last Line: Why, love has flown, %love has gone to glitten
Subject(s): Poetry And Poets; Prisons And Prisoners


TO THE MAN WHO SIDLED UP TO ME AND ASKED: 'HOW LONG YOU IN?'       
First Line: You need lightning


UPON YOUR LEAVING       
First Line: Night %and in the warm blackness


VARIOUS PROTESTANTS FROM VARIOUS PEOPLE       
First Line: Esther say I drink too much


VIGO COUNTY       
First Line: Beyond the brown hill


VIOLENT SPACE       
First Line: Exchange in greed the ungraceful signs. Thrust
Subject(s): Prostitution


WARDEN SAID TO ME THE OTHER DAY       
Last Line: I ain't for sure, but I reckon it's 'cause %we ain't got nowheres to run to


WASP WOMAN VISITS A BLACK JUNKIE IN PRISON       
First Line: After explanations and regulations, he
Last Line: And for hours used no hot words
Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Prisons And Prisoners; Social Classes


WE FREE SINGERS BE       
Last Line: Turned up our collars %and rode the subway home? %we free singers be, baby, %we free singers be


WE FREE SINGERS BE       


WELCOME BACK, MR. KNIGHT: LOVE OF MY LIFE        Recitation
First Line: Welcome back, mr. K: love of my life
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; Men; Drunkards; Alcohol Abuse


WELCOME BACK, MR. KNIGHT: LOVE OF MY LIFE       
First Line: Welcome back, mr. K: love of my life
Last Line: You gotta watch / out for the 'ol liver'
Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Men


WILD NEGRO BILL        Recitation by Author


YOU ARE    Poem Text    
First Line: You are a sunrise
Last Line: You are a sunrise
Subject(s): Love


YOU ARE