Tragedy On Route 66 Poem by Alexandre Nodopaka

Tragedy on Route 66

The parachutists
jump out of the airplane.

They float
among the White Angels
who laugh and laugh.

It is a racist heaven
where the White Angels
live above the Earth
and Black Angels
below the sky.

The angels laugh
all the way down
with the sky divers
until they land
in an oak tree
overhanging
a country road.

That's when
they are struck
by an oncoming truck
driven by guess who?
two Black Angels.

It's a black and white story
where the black guys
collect white angels
for trophies.

Despite the color
connotations
there's no racist angle
to the story.

It all depends
on which side of the tree
you are.

And the guitar
in the hands of one
the chutists
is strictly there
as a metaphor.

Since there's no sides
to a tree
there's no side
to the story.