“God, so you thought”

Mr. Roosevelt Regrets (Detroit Riot, 1943) - Pauli Murray | Collective Arts Guava Gose

The Poem
Mr. Roosevelt Regrets (Detroit Riot, 1943) - Pauli Murray

Upon reading PM newspaper’s account of Mr. Roosevelt’s statement on the recent race clashes: “I share your feeling that the recent outbreaks of violence in widely spread parts of the country endanger our national unity and comfort our enemies. I am sure that every true American regrets this.”

What’d you get, black boy,
When they knocked you down in the
gutter,
And they kicked your teeth out,
And they broke your skull with clubs
And they bashed your stomach in?
What’d you get when the police shot
you in the back,
And they chained you to the beds
While they wiped the blood off?
What’d you get when you cried out to
the Top Man?
When you called on the man next to
God, so you thought,
And asked him to speak out to save
you?
What’d the Top Man say, black boy?
“Mr. Roosevelt regrets. . . . . . .”


The Beverage

Collective Arts Guava Gose

The last two Februaries, I went to the Caribbean and consumed huge amounts of tropical fruit. Soursop, guava, papaya, mango, cherimoya, passion fruit. I am very much not in the Caribbean right now. I am in Wisconsin, and the windchill when I checked my phone this morning was -31 F. Lucky for me, Canadians understand this, and Collective Arts have a beer that I can drink in cold winter and pretend I am anywhere else. Also, it’s good and sweet-sour and very guava and pink.

Subscribe to a sunday note

Don’t miss out on the latest issues. Sign up now to get access to the library of members-only issues.
jamie@example.com
Subscribe