Report From Nottoway Plantation

(site of Ani DiFranco’s "Righteous Retreat in The Big Easy)

them ghosts gonna 

respect no privacy or tenderness.

hobble they tires like runaways.

cut strings like ham.

sing the stillborn song. holler down 

holy hell.  them ghosts gonna

sprinkle glass in they food.

rub fingernails on they larynx.

bite out they tongues. 

break they fingers.  suck marrow 

out they phalanges n metatarsals. 

put brambles on they eyeballs. 

suffocate they. them ghosts gonna

rub on they like they was rubbed on.

play thorns on they eardrums.

yank they pubic hairs out.

brand they tastebuds.

salt paper cuts.

watch they young sold far.

push say please up they nose into they brain.

chop down they money tree.

confetti they money times 

five generations. them ghosts never forget.

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just say no.  sign the petition.