Prof. Gates Dances To Chinese Drums Poem by Cretan Maineiac

“Some … do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
-Booker T. Washington

“The eye altering alters all.”
-William Blake
*****

All complacents sat numb to compliants'
thrumb, war tones in mel-
odious morse code, and the professor danced on,

'Do you know who I am? '

Skip, John Harvard's fallen
angel, learnedly de-
fying Protection, Service- Yankee blight- the Root of
-learned helplessness
-psychological reactance, &
-spinning the web DuBois.
'I'm handicapped! '

Beijing rhythms skipping over
Tiananmen cries &
Tibetan sighs: Western
Canon firing blanks
+ Higher Education
+ Mandarin English
= Lower Living

'I'll talk to yo' momma on the porch! '

'I…! I…!
I…! , ' in a
World of black ‘n’ white (‘n’

gray) , the altered “I” of an
Endowed ingrate, com-
pliant-served by ivory tower

White, protected by
Blue— sees only
Red.