ode to my sister lilylulay
i
The city noise is a carpet of confusion among
the incandescent street lamps
The moon is a faint din suffocated by the smog
puffing from the
coal plant's smoke stacks
The alley-way is a garbage stinkin' narrow
black tarry cut
across the dirt back-yards of a neighborhood block
And the
Hawg Rider
is
Riding--Riding--Riding
Yes...Yes
the
Hawg Rider
is
riding up to my family's
old wooden house back door
I hear my Daddy's grand-father clock
strike
Twelve Chimes
It's midnight...
Midnight
ii
He wears not helmet... not cap
his long blond curly hair
matted and twisted locks
constrained only by a red folded silk bandana
worn across his forehead
The wolf tail... the wolf tail
I see a wolf tail braided into his wild unkempt hair
A zippered jacket of black dull leather he wears
and
his coat buckle torn and the belt's a'hangin'
and
he wears blue faded denim jeans
with never a wrinkle or tear
His buffalo skin boots sixteen inches high
He rides his motorcycle with a jeweled twinkle
The diamonds of eternal love in his eyes
There is his
shiny bone white butt of his
Colt Python Magnum revolver
is peeking from behind
his unzipped waist length animal skin garment
I see the metallic motor beast that he rides
with its
chrome exhaust pipes
a gleaming ´n its red-yellow flames
spitting
Yes...Yes
He rides his motorcycle with a jeweled twinkle
under the polluted night sky
iii
Over the tarry surface he rumbles
and
across the dirt of our back yard
then cut his hand-throttle to a gentle growl
He knocks his brass knuckles
onto the wooden shutters
for my Daddy
keeps us all locked-´n-boarded
and
then he whistles a tune piercing the silent night
and i hear my sister astir
I see my darling sister
her eyes alight with love and wonder
faintly illuminated by the porch security light
that my sister has smothered to hide her
boyfriend dear
iv
The razor shaven man's voice is deep and audible
and
i hear him say to my sister
lilylulay...lilylulay
One kiss for me my lover
for i have one more delivery tonight
and
then look for me by morning light
O...
look for me then my sweetheart
for now i must go
and
prowl the night
But if...
my darling
lilylulay
those Po-po dragnet the 'hood
then look for me by
midnight
Though beast, man and daemon
may try and block
my way...
I promise to take you away from this hell-hole
by
midnight
I see him
like a noble Knight stand upon his stead
to embrace his princess dear
his large black leather skinned arms
caress my sister and hold her near
v
My sister captures him with her strong arms
and
presses her ruby red lips to his lips
for a kiss
slow and tender is their kiss
The man pulls back and reaches for his pocket
he snaps open a stiletto switch-blade knife
its blade razor sharp
i see reflected in the big man's eyes
He grasps a lock of his hair
and
he cuts this golden swath from his head
and
he places the hair bundle into my sister's hand
My sister ties her perfumed yellow silk scarf
around the man's neck
and
the animal skin clad giant of a man
sits down upon his saddle seat
He throttles his metallic beast
into a fearful howl
and
he rides his iron stallion
vanishing into the foggy mist
I hear him laughing out loud
I look and I see
my beautiful sister
lilylulay
is braiding her hair
My sister is braiding
that man's blond strands of his hair
into her long silky auburn locks of her hair
as she contently stares into the misty night air
I hear her whisper, ever such a whisper
"My faithful husband,
God has blessed us
and
I cannot wait to tell you the news."
vi
He did not come by morning light
the sound of his motorcycle
was not heard at noon
"Son it's supper time, call your sister"
but
i could only tell my father
"Dad, she wants to stay in her room."
The shadows grew long
and
the blazing red, yellow, white sun
My sister and I
we watched the glowing ball sink into the west
Now a dark blue, velvet dome
speckled with sparkling lights
covered our heads
the moon has gone to hide
vii
I am awakened to the sound of thunder
No
I hear the crash of the front door
is smashed off its hinges
and
i jump from my bed
I see the black uniformed helmeted men
shod with jack-boots
armed with black rifles
and
the red lazer' beam dots
marking my father's forehead
My mother is screaming
and
the black uniformed man grabs her by her hair
he pushes her face into
our fabric sofa seat
her voice is smothered there
I witness these county
GOONs
beat my mother and father to the ground
and
twist their arms around their backs
and
clasp silver hand-cuffs upon their wrists
I see a strike to my father's skull
the Po-po is strong with his flashlight
My mother and father are dragged past
the
demolished front door
My sister and i watch and we hide
viii
I see there is
a black rifle
sudden death at every window
Look...
a shotgun
is at the back door
I hear my Daddy's grand-father clock
strike
Twelve Chimes
It's midnight...
Midnight
ix
The night silence is broken by a rhythmic sound
it's the whistled tune
i know so well
piercing the silent darkest night
with not a moon in the sky
dark, dark, dark is our hide
A man's deep audible voice i hear
whisper at the back door
"Lilylulay... lilylulay
my sweetheart
my eternal love
Come with me tonight"
x
The shotgun explosion
i hear
is deafening to my ears
and
the flames hiss with lead balls
projectiles shot from the steel weapon's barrel
held in the hands of the
black uniformed man
hiding at the back door
I am still frozen in our hide
but my sister
lilylulay
Is not at my side
The beams of light from flashlights
held by the black uniformed men
crisscross before my eyes
Horror... Horror
I see before my eyes
Horror etched into my mind forever
is
my darling sister
lilylulay
her body twisted and deformed
her flesh torn open
she is lying in her pool of deep-red blood
lifeless
I look into her dead eyes
What is this that i witness
stirring within my sisters abdominal cavity
a little hand
small feet
they moved, i am certain
and
disappear in a pool of blood
"Damn it... fuckin' damit'
Wolfman is one lucky mutha' fucker
we'll see him again boyz.'"
Says the black uniformed shotgun armed man
lighting a cigarette
standing over my dead sister's corpse
with the blond man's hair
braided neatly into
her blood stained
long silken auburn locks of hair
xi
I recall vividly...
the TV newsmen anchors announcing
that following day
of a
Judge
and six Sheriff Deputies
to be buried
along with an un-named
blond haired man
with a wolf tail braided into his hair
and
a yellow silk scarf
tied around his neck
xii
My sister lilylulay was cremated
and
her ashes set to the wind
my father died in the hospital
from injuries from that
police raid
my mother died in a state nursing home
i saw her crying each day
The wooden house was in that empty lot
it was torn down
I heard them neighbors talk
no one wanted to live in that house
the tenants all complained...
of hearing motorcycle engine sounds
and
a young woman's words
whispered only at midnight
a gentle loving voice
Yes...Yes
they always heard the the voice say,
"O... johnnie... please don't come now."
xiii
Ten years ago tonight
it happened that way
I don't much remember my eleventh birthday
the following day
O...
listen closely, do you hear it too
Twelve Chimes in the distance
It's midnight
Midnight
Elizabeth...
my love
hold me tight
Elizabeth...
my darling
We leave this hell hole tonight
and
you and i my wife
Ride
Ride
Ride
We ride my Harley Hawg far, far, out of sight...
the end
Photograph Credit
Copyright © Elizabeth Ashley Photography
@supadupaflygirl
Poem
Copyright © ralph marie de largo
January 27, 1988
@ProLifePoet
1376 WERDZ
