AFTER VIEWING A PAINTING OF AMIRI BARAKA

 

AFTER VIEWING A PAINTING

OF AMIRI BARAKA, POET,

        for Rex Deloney

I walk the rounds

of the house

after doing dishes.

Later find my way

to the butterscotch

chair away from

the television.

An artist friend

has painted a portrait

of Amiri Baraka

and I pick up his poems

reading what I underlined

this summer. A compromise

would be silence. I know

something about pursuing

the ridiculous. I’ve spent

the past six months

reading Don Quixote

in three translations,

including the original.

I know the code of

Caballeros andantes--

knights errant. The painting

of Baraka haunts me.

Knights aren’t supposed

to sleep. They’ve promised

only to be grateful,

grateful and loyal

to their cause. Our

State legislature has

introduced legislation

to replace the statue

of Marcus Whitman

swapping it out with

one of Billy Frank, Jr.,

a Nisqually fisherman

who had the courage

to go fishing each time

he was released from jail.

Jim Bodeen

24 February 2021