III. Billy the Kid Dreams of America

Billy the Kid fell to his knees before two angels of alabaster marble
In the ancient graveyard.
The rainbow colored feathers of a head dress,
Perched atop his long, ragged hair,
His bright but fragmented thoughts swirled in a pool of LSD madness,
He cried out in desperation:

“Captain America man, where the fuck are you man?”

While the distant light of a strangled sun cast a pale aura,
On the tomb before him, he read the inscription:

Anahita and Cassiel
- May Our Silent Tears Bring Forth Life Again From the Earth

Rocking back and forth with his eyes closed tightly,
Billy’s prophetic dream unfolded within him…

In the morning, in the mist, Evangeline went looking for cold spring flowers,
‘Till laughing she lay down by a stream.
In the morning, in the mist, she has been gone for hours,
‘Till crying she woke from her innocent dream

Out of a fissure in the sodden land came
Pale, equine Pluto all steaming hoof and wild matted hair,
A sharp, bony horn pointing rigid from his head
“You bright crescent will be my bride forever,
“In the darkest heart of the earth!”

Frantic voices, far away, called for Evangeline
And the rage of her mother when she learned her daughter’s fate,
Flooded the fields with tears so great,
That the land bore no food for years.

Evangeline is lost forever! All of the light is gone from the world!

A column of soldiers in the forest land,
Hunt the natives that hide their slaves,
The golden flower of the Dauphin,
Demand the return of His commodities,
And all evidence hidden in watery graves,

One flash of a musket and she was dead,
Her lover, Tchapitoulis, dragged away in chains.

The reflection of the African sun,
A dim and bloody fire in the eyes of a man,
With a body made of carved ebony,
Steel shackles held his legs and tightened around his bulging neck,
The mechanical, sneering voice of the Auctioneer said:
’What am I bid for this strong buck?’
Two women, sat on the porch of the Senator’s house twisting their white
Parasols and watching the marketplace

Said the younger woman:
“It does seem cruel Barbara”
Said the white haired one to the younger (chuckling slightly):
“Nonsense Corinna! This is working very well for them” ³

A rabid, snarling dog with white teeth barred,
Lunged at the knee-socked calf of a schoolgirl,
A crowd was sneering and spitting venom,
White hooded men feeling power in their violence,
Tied a rope to a scorched and dying ash tree.

All things tender were torn and wasted.
Two bodies lay on fire by the side of a road,
A truck squealing away, the men inside laughing

In a shack by the levee,
An old man huddled with fear.
The boards of his roof were cracking and buckling,
Wind and rain flayed the very skin from the earth.
In a corner of the room, a black snake was moaning:
“Life, I believe in life.”

Billy’s dream emptied from his head,
He’d seen his lover and his mother dead,
And his hero lost in a flash of light,
Curling up like a child he shuddered and cried,
Wanting desperately to be reborn.

---

Notes:

"Billy the Kid"
Billy and Captain America are the main characters in the movie “Easy Rider”. In one scene in the movie they take LSD in the New Orleans graveyard and at the end of the movie they are shot by rednecks and are left by the side of the road for dead with their motorcycles on fire.

"Anahita"
High ranking female angel in Zoroastrianism “immaculate one, genius of fertilizing water, and of the fruitfulness of the earth”
“A Dictionary of Angels” p.17

"Cassiel"
“Angel of Solitude and Tears”
“A Dictionary of Angels” p.82

"Evangeline"
Evangeline The famous Cajun legend that was the basis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem. In this poem Evangeline is another name for Persephone, the daughter of Demeter from Greek Mythology.

"Tchapitoulis"
I was inspired by the music of a group called “Wild Tchapitoulis” to include this character. The group is actually the Neville Brothers but they record this more traditional music using this persona. I believe that the name refers to a Native American chief from the area. This section also describes how the Native Americans gave refuge to escaped slaves and intermarried with them.

"On the porch of the Senators house..."
President Bush on CNN September 2, 2005 :
"We got a lot of rebuilding to do.... the good news is and it's hard for some to see it now but out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic gulf coast... out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- the guy lost his entire house -- there's going to be fantastic house. I look forward to sitting on the porch. Out of New Orleans is going to come that great city again."

³ "Corinna"
Laura Bush (the President’s wife) referred twice publicly to Hurricane Katrina as “Hurricane Corinna”

³ "...This is working very well for them"
Barbara Bush (the President’s mother) upon seeing the flood survivors in the Houston Astrodome: “…And so many of the people in the area here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, “so this—this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.”
Barbara Bush - As quoted by the American Public Media’s Marketplace program.

“a black snake was moaning...”
This character, who appears throughout the poem, is inspired by the song “Black Snake Blues” by Clifton Chenier the famous New Orleans zydeco musician.