MOMS BLUE CALYPSO

Moms blue calypso
strum with rum and the only one
I knew who could purr
in my ear like a cat
on a black top roof
inclined to be the best one
I'll ever find
Moms blue calypso
divine and sharp
in the key of need
can play it on Saturday
but everyday feels like Monday
when the weight of the Ocean
drains your eyes of light
and the heavy lidded
solemnity ain’t a’ight

don’t lie to me now
don’t lie to me son
don’t cry for me child
just smile for me once

Moms blue calypso
Plucked and picked
On a tranquilo
guitar willed to me by glory
capo’d on the first fret
and I bet you knew it
before I blew it
lips puckered
to los limones
para mi
para ti
para the party
in the Hotel Chelsea
when the moon
was creeping in
and the streets of Cairo
were filled with red banners
of a hapless sort of hope

Moms blue calypso
Sung softly
to the motherless child
who sleeps in Antigua
while cops stand around
on Staten Island
and watch a giant collapse
in a heap of flesh
disinterested in life
those half zombies
and they walk around like
prison guards
‘cos they know
we’re all on death row

don’t lie to me now
don’t lie to me son
don’t cry for me child
just smile for me once




(drawing: "Nelson Dreaming on Antigua" by David Aaron Greenberg 2014)