EK from IN

 Poets from Indiana, Etheridge Knight

Black revolutionary poet, drug addict, poet of the people, Korean War vet, intellectual, member of the the Broadside Quartet--Etheridge Knight was a complicated figure. And yes, I know he was born in Mississippi and grew up in Kentucky. I know he bounced around the U.S. for a while in mythic poetic fashion and hung out with the likes of Amiri Baraka, Haki R. Madhubuti, Nikki Giovanni, the one-and-only Gwendolyn Brooks, and Sonia Sanchez, whom he was married to for two years. Yes, I know he's one of the titans of the Blacks Arts Movement. But he made his home in Indianapolis, got a college degree later in life there, made friends, mentored young poets, battled his addiction, and eventually died there. They even just put up a mural to him in Indy at the Chatterbox jazz club. 

Here's a sample from one of my favorites. You can find the entire poem on the Poetry Foundation.

Fuck Coltrane and music and clouds drifting in the sky

fuck the sea and trees and the sky and birds

and alligators and all the animals that roam the earth

fuck marx and mao fuck fidel and nkrumah and

democracy and communism fuck smack and pot

and red ripe tomatoes fuck joseph fuck mary fuck

god jesus and all the disciples fuck fanon nixon

and malcolm fuck the revolution fuck freedom fuck

the whole muthafucking thing

all i want now is my woman back

so my soul can sing

 

Note: there's a great interview with Michael Collins, who knew him in Indianapolis, on WFYI in Indy. Give it a listen.