hey, Afie
as the cracked blue piano notes
tinny off into cacophony
of microphoned harshness
through a beard,
as the trumpet
highpeaks Ujaama
to Uhuru

the cracked notes
and split banknotes
among split coffee
and cracked plates
counterpoint
cracking balls
as crushed balls wail a song
for manhood

hey, Alfie
and we try to sing
a song of joy
in the joyless air
of smokefilled
trashfilled coinclicking
proletarian euphoria
blowing our minds
with the invective notes
of the horn
forcing a logic
like the fully extended
slide of a chatanooga
trombone
singing a song of blues
against brother
with no melodic pattern
but an echo
of explosions
on a slackskinned drum
drummed by a slack-
wristed drummer

hey, Alfie
as the mind musicians
compose in their
concerthall void
in their middlesearch
emptiness of pool
in their cadence
of subliminal pain
as limpwristed drummers
miss their beats
while looking beat
smiling beatific
behind glazed eyes
of the committed
behind dark shades
which screen
past and heritage
and boldly blow bluesy
Imani, the Id
the dejected,
the rejected

hey,             e
        Al
             fi