It's important how you begin

I mean, if I begin with 'Gallows Humor',
you'd expect a condemned man walking
up the stairs of a wooden platform
where the noose hanging from the beam above
was for him,
who couldn't help but laugh
at the mismatch of the executioner's socks.
Of course, when the condemned asks him why,
the executioner would say,
"Because I like to leave 'em with a smile!"

Speaking the truth

Maybe Hollywood's right
when it casts minorities as comic relief
to the somber white protagonist -
maybe it's not just racism,
but just a reflection of fact -
a condemned people,
when the whole fucken system is against them,
has just got to laugh.

I' m speaking to you

Are you listening?
I know you still don't get it.
Because you're reading this in a book or on a computer,
you're not one of the condemned
and can't understand how
it's funny when everything has been
carefully prepared for your demise.

On the Jersey shore

Maybe you'll understand this:
Every summer you listen to the radio
for which beaches are closed off
due to oil spills and syringes.
It comes and goes,
but it's what you've come to expect.
Are we laughing yet?

Bulworth

Funniest movie in years!
The hero is a senator,
who's rapping on the truth,
he raps on politicians living on the dole,
he raps on the rich
who treat us all like moles.
The rich tell the senators
to vote to cut our water
to vote to cut our food.
It's been years since we seen insurance,
it's no wonder that I'm laughing,
wouldn't you if you were me?

Brandywine
5/29/98