In the morning,
The jack-rabbit sang to the Arkansaw.
He carolled in caracoles
On the feat sandbars.
The black man said,
'Now, grandmother,
Crochet me this buzzard
On your winding-sheet,
And do not forget his wry neck
After the winter.'
The black man said,
'Look out, O caroller,
The entrails of the buzzard
Are rattling.'
(from, Stevens Collected Poetry & Prose, p.40)
* * * * *
I don't quite get this poem. It sounds like 'the black man' is threatening to make supper out of 'the jack-rabbit.' I recognize the jocose mood of the first verse, which rather admires the jack-rabbit's high spirits and whirligig motion. The second verse rather escapes me, and the third, as I said, is a sly threat to the jack-rabbit. I suspect that this poem could be read as mildly racist, but I wonder if Stevens is trying to be 'down-home' in this poem. What is Stevens' relation (I mean, in his head, as well as in his life) with black people? I haven't seen much written about that in my researches.
Last night I watched 'Slavery - The Making of America' on PBS, and another program on racism in America, quite good, narrated by CCH Pounder, one of my favorite actresses, and all too rarely seen. February is Black History Month, and it's a good time to think these things over. 'Knowledge is power,' therefore first comes awareness.
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