Letter for Bobo

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Asked him
   If he remembers
   That the ghost of Chicago Bobo
   Still swims
   in the shallows
   Of the Tallahatchie River
   Not far
   From the town of Money
   Where the only Green
   That exists
   Is the Evil
   That Men Do
   On Delta Summer
   Back Roads

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Marked it urgent
   So that Dixiecrat Hands
   Could make
   Prompt response
   To the actions
   Of August 28, 1955
   When Wolf Whistles
   Sold more then Tickets
   And Bryant's Grocery Market
   Began to sell
   2-cent Gum
   Wrapped
   With Grim Reaper
   Death Cards

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Questioning
   The hospitality of Sumner County
   And its motto of prosperity
   "A Good Place to Raise A Child"
   Land
   Of Strom Thurmond

   Land
   Of Sheriff Clarence Strider
   Land
   Of Jim Crow
   Land
   Of the Rope and Mob
   Land
   Of the Midnight Rides
   And Southern
   Pecan Tree Picnics

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Attached a copy
   Of LOOK Magazine
   And a picture
   Of a 14 Year Old Corpse
   In an open casket
   Three Days
   For the World to Witness
   How a Swamp
   Treats the mangled remains
   Of Black youth
   Wondered
   If the names of Demons
   Called Bryant and Milam
   Still Haunt the Governor
   And residents of Mississippi
   In their sleep

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Gave him a list
   Of his constituents
   Told him that the following:
   Will Moore
   Reverend George Lee
   Lamar Smith
   Medgar Evers
   And Raynard Johnson
   Could no longer vote
   Because they played
   Poker with the Devil
   And Drew Jokers
   Dressed
   As Separate but Equal
   Executioners

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Requesting justice
   For the family
   Of Mamie Till Mobley
   And Moses Wright
   Provided an account
   Of how a child
   Carried his father's ring
   To the grave
   While a panel
   Of Conservative Council Citizens
   Took less
   Then 67 seconds
   To honor
   Anglo-Saxon Pride
   made it Possible
   For two southern boys
   To receive $4000 payments

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Inserted a piece of Barb-Wire
   And a Blade
   from a Progressive Ginning Company Fan
   Same as the one
   That held Little Emmet
   Down in the bowls
   Of the Mighty Tallahatchie
   Spoke of
   Plessy V. Ferguson
   And of Black Mondays
   Imagined
   That Poor Whites
   Posing as Hunters
   Rolled over in their graves
   When Brown v. the Board of Education
   Gave Negroes the right
   To exist,
   To breathe,
   To live
   In WHITE ONLY spaces

   Sent a letter
   To the governor of Mississippi today
   Waited
   67 Nights
   For a response
   That never came
   Cried for 3 days
   Prayed for the living
   And honored the Dead
   Wrote a poem
   Ended with the words
   When ALL is Quiet
   When ALL is Still
   In Mississippi
   They still hear the screams
   Of little
   Emmet Till,
   Rest in Peace
   Emmet Till.