The White Sea

white fish with no wings
crawling upon the floor of the water
white fish with their entrails
diced and cut up having fallen beneath them
white fish in white water
white foam bubbling in swirls
and i in my white boat
peering beneath the surface of the water
placing my Black hands in the tide
my hand being slowly eaten away
and i was screaming and shaking
while the sky was corroding
tiny beads of blood rolling down my face
toward my neck down to purge me
so many chairs set up for us
to sit around in and stare at each other
and we recounting dreams in a nightmare showcase
with translucent windows
and a jury outside deciding a verdict
to bring us all to guilt
and send us out in a boat with stones
tied round our necks and throw us dead into
the goddam milky sea.

About the Author

Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa (formerly known as David L. Rice), was born in Omaha on May 21, 1947. Mondo graduated from Creighton Preparatory School and took courses at Creighton University. He wrote for the local underground paper, Buffalo Chip, from 1969 to 1970. A member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), he was a well-known community activist and a published poet and playwright. In 1970 he and Ed Poindexter were charged with the murder of a police officer, and given life sentences. Amnesty International has called for a retrial or his release in 1999. Mondo died in prison in March 2016.