There is no planet B.

There is no planet B.

A Poem by h d e rushin
"

for sharon

"
Under the weaves of women - ok Black women -
are these tracks that take you, say, to the Mississippi Delta; say, to Detroit's East side. After
water, someone figured, was useful for everyone. "You start by singing and adding rope",
then you finish the rows like you would okra or yellow squash for the spreading vines,
the bangs, the baby hairs to be brushed over with Black Magic, Sulfur 8 or dew. Is it false
to pretend that anyone could have hair as straight as a Polynesian ? Gauguin learned the hard way
to paint the oft naked village girls looking off into distances with raven hair, laying like playwrights
under the dark sky with pictures of their offspring set to motion. I had a girl I drove home on
Thursdays from "Lu-Ann's Hair and Body Transformations" who's fingers hurt, she said,
to brush my hand holding away from her warm thighs but when September came and the windows
were rolled up, she would flick her tongue down my dry throat and, early on, pull my good ears
almost off. Theory holds that weaves make your own hair break off as the new hairs grow stronger;
make the pinch sound, duff falsetto crimp. Make your pants not reach your shoetops like
Sam and Dave. Was it Sam the highest, who sung the lead on "Hold On", or Dave the lowest,
who died in the car crash to his mothers home? "There is no other planet where this pain can happen"
she says to me, holding the bright handled hot comb high to the heavens. 

© 2018 h d e rushin


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I love this entire work. Every bit of it.
You do a magnificent job of interweaving delta wisdom with southern imagery and human truths

"There is no other planet where this pain can happen"

This very much reminded me of Raisin in the Sun, and I haven't read that in yrs.

The dialogue, rhythm and even allusions (Gauguin) are masterful

Awesome job.

The only slight suggestion I may have is separating this into two stanzas

A natural break seems to offer itself "I had a girl drive me home"

But then it can break off into different parts from there as well.

The prose paragraph always seems to give off a more condensed, almost urgent tone, so I can see sticking to the original.

Just a possibility.

"she would flick her tongue down my dry throat"

excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed.



Posted 5 Years Ago


h d e rushin

5 Years Ago

thanks my friend....this is one of those reviews that came right before AT&T terminated my internet .. read more
h d e rushin

5 Years Ago

I, for one, and possibly not the only one, still grapple with stanza's; the when, the why, the compu.. read more
I'm just awestruck reading this!! You wonderfully describe to the reader the broad strokes to a beautiful portrait of a story.well done !!

Posted 5 Years Ago


h d e rushin

5 Years Ago

thank you so much my dearest./ dana
Why am i smiling at the end of this colourful masterpiece that's taken me to another place and another time!?! Your descriptions defy the norm/ Just as Ken S. paints with words, you words are a palette of well used liquid rainbows! Gaugin's women are indeed full bodied beauties with hair as dark as thick but that is their DNA and all other letters. Why the need to alter what tis self.. unless to make me smile.. and smile .. after a second reading. Thank you, dana.. Smiles flying to you and your wondrous world..

Posted 5 Years Ago


h d e rushin

5 Years Ago

thank you my dearest love for those comments.......dana
you are definitely a "soul man" with a strong poet's soul...dana...

and i remember the teasing and the hands pushing mine away...but you give me history early on this poem...from a perspective i can only try to understand. And i thank you for that.
j.

Posted 5 Years Ago


h d e rushin

5 Years Ago

thank you brother for those wonderful words my friend...dana

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Added on April 25, 2018
Last Updated on April 25, 2018

Author

h d e rushin
h d e rushin

detroit, MI



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black american poet living in detroit. more..

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