Ishmael Reed
BY THE GRACE OF GRACE
FOR GRACE AND JAKE
When god evicted First Couple
He gave them some cash
That would last until they found jobs
And an apartment to crash
First, they needed to go shopping
Adam said, “I was so tired of that fruit
Diet that I welcome this break
I wish that I was seated in
A five-star restaurant
With a well done
Juicy steak on my plate.”
“Haven’t you forgotten something?”
Eve said
“What?” Adam said and then
“O, right, clothes”
They walked about the city
Attracting sneering glances
And the barking of dogs
While trogging their way
Through the London fog
They were chased by the Bobbies
Whom they lost in the crowd
They were not wearing clothes
For crying out loud
They ducked into a shop
And encountered a lass
She was
Transforming fabrics into
Magical threads
She had a lot of class
Her white suit impeccable
And silver earrings too
Her demeanor was unflappable
As she mixed reds, yellows, oranges
And blues
Her stitching was brilliant
Like Sonny Stitt playing his horn
He said, “I was doing
Flatted 5ths before Bird
Was born”
Grace Wales Bonner looked
Up at her customers and before
They could say their names
She said, “I know who you are
I’m aware of your fame
I figured that you’d visit
And I’ve measured your frames”
“For you Eve, try this on The
Celeste Open Collar Shirt Dress
The green is a reminder of your home
And Adam, you get the Diego
Single-breasted cotton-blend
Black Blazer
Some say that if
You press the top gold button you
Can make a wish”
“I know what that wish will be.” Eve
Said “it will be in the form of a dish.”
They were having that dish
On Canal Street downtown
The restaurant at the Metrograph
Where the film buffs dine
Adam said
“The patrons admire our attire
Thanks to Grace, by the way, Eve, how
Did you know about this place?” Adam asked
While forking his steak
Eve answered while enjoying
A Martini’s taste
“I was told to check it out
By the Garden’s albino snake”
Reprinted with permission of the author
Ishmael Reed is a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, songwriter, public media commentator, lecturer and publisher. Author of more than thirty books, Dalkey Archive Press published his eleventh novel, Conjugating Hindi, in 2018. In 2020, his latest non-fiction work, Malcolm and Me, was published by Audible, with Reed as narrator. Baraka Books of Montreal published his latest essay collection, Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico, in 2019. Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues, his most recent poetry collection, is forthcoming in 2020 by Dalkey Archive Press. Other recent books include his tenth novel, Juice! (2011); and The Complete Muhammad Ali (Baraka Books, 2015). New York’s Nuyorican Poets Café premiered his ninth and newest play, The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, May 23, 2019, which garnered three 2019 AUDELCO awards; the Nuyorican produced his eighth play, Life Among the Aryans in 2018. Reed is founder of the Before Columbus Foundation and PEN Oakland, non-profit organizations run by writers for writers. He is a MacArthur Fellow, and among his other honors are the University of Buffalo’s 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, and a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award. Awarded the 2008 Blues Songwriter of the Year from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame, his collaborations with jazz musicians for the past forty years were also recognized by SFJazz Center with his appointment, from 2012-2016, as San Francisco’s first Jazz Poet Laureate and in Venice, Italy, where he became the first Alberto Dubito International awardee, honored as “a special artistic individual who has distinguished himself through the most innovative creativity in the musical and linguistic languages.” Reed is currently working on The Terrible Fours, the third novel in his “Terribles” trilogy. His online international literary magazine, Konch, can be found at www.ishmaelreedpub.com. His author website is located at www.ishmaelreedpub.org.
Photo by Tennessee Reed.