Carlisle Court

Carlisle Court In Response to LeRoi Jones’ “Ballad of the Morning Streets”

The magic of the day is the morning. I want to say that it will be fine, but it’s 5:00 AM and my neighbor is already on her back porch yelling into the phone at her drug dealer. She never offers to share, even though I can hear her through the window. This is the ballad of the morning streets, trains pass by and rattle the house reminding me of what little we have. Warm weather brings bugs inside; they take the morning hours to devour the cat food before the tiny beasts arise. Next door a little girl gets herself ready to wait for the bus, mama’s already getting high at the table. She looks at the morning and greets it with a smile, sweet day come into me, let me live with you and dig your blazing. This is the ballad of the morning streets, but soon she’ll realize the magic of the day doesn’t live here.