O Rotund Funster of Dismemberments and Decapitations
Nile Bank Teller Pulp Sculptor of Fetish Figures
you puzzle pieces with views askew
berth an indigo odalisque,
amulet against bowing “Yassuh”
before Afrogenia defaced
as cartoon gallery of buffoons.
O Giant Gnome Sage Masktasker
Cagey Cutup
Grand Wizard of Chromatictactic
in our circles’ changing colors
rainbows stain Harlem’s weekday worries,
ebony Edens smile upon the iris.
Romare, you tributary beloving ways we play,
tamper scraps into treasured trash
to reckon sermons, testify:
like jeli, squibbling strings,
intones legends on kora’s belly;
like poet’s praise crests rejoicings’ rise
where Asantehene is enthroned.