Watts Riot, 1965
They had waited so long, they had given up too soon.
So much smog, smoke, haze the clearest blue was grey.
They had waited so long, they had given up too soon.
As if three hundred years had fallen to one day.
So much smog, smoke, haze the clearest blue was grey.
It was running away from him even then, the problem.
As if three hundred years had fallen to one day.
Haze, aqua, white, the coast, the beach, peach, slate.
It was running away from him even then, the problem.
Riding in a convertible through the mythic streets.
Haze, aqua, white, the coast, the beach, peach, slate.
Sunlight, palm trees, every boulevard ends at the beach.
Riding in a convertible through the mythic streets,
The rhythm of perfect days illuminating his disarray.
Sunlight, palm trees, every boulevard ends at the beach.
Following Sunset into the future, or tomorrow, at least.
The rhythm of perfect days illuminating his disarray.
As the sphinx that is the sun stares, nods, riddles.
Following Sunset into the future, or tomorrow, at least.
Slate blue, green, blue palms, lime, lavender, white, haze.
As the sphinx that is the sun stares, nods, riddles.
If a black man couldn’t be happy here, where could he?
Slate blue, green, blue palms, lime, lavender, white, haze.
Dreams of light, blossoms falling, pink and white.
If a black man couldn’t be happy here, where could he?
Shabby and pastel horizons, rolling brown paradise on fire.
Dreams of light, blossoms falling, pink and white.
As sunlight fans across the mirror of the bay.
Shabby and pastel horizons, rolling brown paradise on fire.
Pacifist mired in violence, staring at the Pacific—
As sunlight fans across the mirror of the bay.
He stared at the ocean before turning back into history.
Pacifist mired in violence, staring at the Pacific—
They had waited so long, they had given up too soon.
He stared at the ocean before turning back into history.
They had waited too long, they had given up too soon.
Copyright © 2015 by Anthony Walton. This poem was first printed in Black Renaissance Noire, Vol. 15, Issue 1 (Spring–Summer 2015). Used with the permission of the author.