for k. curtis lyle

for k. curtis lyle

i say god great & good god
i say master living clear in
my mind this morning…
from "drunk on god"

i know good homily when i hear it,
i know good poetry when i read it ,
& i know the feathery godtouch
that comes when in the presence of
both; rippling efferent nerves,
making muscles move & glands
secrete, making organs quiesce. i
felt this when i first heard u read in
a los angeles salon in ‘77 where
gene redmond rocked, invaded the
nose & the mystical ojenke lassoed
butterflies. u took sylvester st.
elmo hope, possessed him, took his
head & rode him like a mississippi
mule; spoke thru’ him like an
oracle before he vanished in an
easter sunrise; u spoke thru him to
me, yr voice the sound of cowrie
shells falling on a divining tray. u
made me divinely drunk; made me
speak in perorating tongues lying
deep & dormant in me, the
vocalized thoughts of poets &
preachers; made me rise take up
my pen & write. yr spirit touched
my verse, put a healing on it &
filled it with the joyful noise of
those who shout & sing.

Joseph McNair; 2009