i want my theatre done in the throat of dying aids patients
when death rattles
i want my theatre done in the gunshot wounds
of black boys on friday nights
in the burnt-out buildings of black churches
down south way south
where women have died in blown up
abortion clinics
i want my theatre done
on the eve of presidential elections
as lynch rope tightens in joh coltrane's music
somebody remember me please
i want my theatre done in the mark taper forum
so black folks can dress up and be treated
with respect as they take their seats
'cause it's only been 33 years
since they could walk on miami beach
i want my theatre done in the flesh
of crack babies and strawberries
and pimps
and hustlers
thank you mr. george bush
for the word crack baby
where black fathers
go to hospitals
and hold their babies
anyway motherfuckers
i want my theatre done
in the old slave quarters
out back with candle light
ground zero is the common
ground and august wilson
is mad hatter chef
cooking gumbo
that is his day job
on the day they
launch
amerika's nuclear dream
he's late
but on time
i want my theatre
performed
in stainless steel
jail cells
24 hour surveillance
text based reality
where black men
are serving the rest of their
lives
'cause of
a baseball metaphor
i want my theatre done
as a strip search
de-lousing
a shower room
gang rape
and see
like toni morrison
said
it is a spiral
and we just get deeper
cause we are back
to the throat again
to death rattlin'
of a dying black aids
patient in a prison infirmary
and in outer space
in the outer space
of amerika
nobody can hear us
scream
(look ma i'm on top of the world
come and get me
come and get me).
-- Keith Antar Mason
Keith Antar Mason is a poet, playwright, director and performance artist. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the theatre compay, The Hittite Emmpire.He lives in Santa Monica CA.
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