Three Poems by Charlie Braxton

Breaking Between Two Worlds

(Jesus at the Crossroads)

And it came to pass

That the son of man

Was called down to

The crossroads

Where the loa of

The dead and

The spirit of the undead

Meet in the sweet

By and by to try

And test the cool

Of those who dare

To walk the walk

Of the crossroad way

And break

Between the beats of

Mortal and gods

Seek/in the holiness

Of wisdom past

And wisdom present

Embodied in the

orishas of that

old time religion

yeah jesus went

down to the old

rugged cross-

road to dance between

two worlds

his holy body breaking

to the beat of a music

loud enough to shake awake

the black saints of old

marching onward

like majestic warriors

chanting

in/to the hot dark delta night

(loa legba, loa legba, loa lega)

May the circle

be unbroken

by and by lord

by and by

and all the while

eshu watches the waning of the west

and elegba look longingly

to the east

admonishing  jesus

to seek ye first

the holy kingdom

of ashe’

and all other wisdom

will be added on/in/to you

yo son of man

the choice is yours

you can get with this

or you can get with that.

Rockstar Jesus

And on the third night

Jesus wept

His tears a bittersweet

Mixture of blood and sweat

Flowed like the river nile

Staining the urban concrete

Streets crimson red

With the anguish of his undying love

Screaming:

“Father o’ Father why

Have you forsaken them

In their hour of dire need”

But there was no answer

coming from the cool cruel streets

of south central

only the faint sound of

gunshots, screams and broken glass\

echoing throughout the city

so the sun of man turn his back

on the night and took a hit

from the glass pipe

and now jesus is a rockstar touring

the ho-stroll

looking for a strawberry toss-up

to wash his weary feet

before his next craving

comes crashing down

like the wailing walls

of Jerich0.

Jesus on the RTD

Yesterday

While riding the rtd

Jesus Christ appeared to me

Suddenly

Like the physical manifestation

Of my third eye

Apparently he was

Still looking for lost souls

To feed

The secret words of sacred power to

All alone the son of man sat

On a seat next to the

Window side

His bloodshot eyes forever fixed on

The direction of the rising sun

Singing:

“to the east my brother

to the east…”

but few people caught the wisdom

of his holy words

because few people cared

enough to hear

or either they were too scared

to listen

so the savior

having been reject for a third time

stopped off at the next stop

to cast his pearls elsewhere

[author_info]Charlie Braxton is a writer, hip hop journalist, poet and author. Braxton has contributed to a number of publications, including The Source, Vibe, Murder Dog and The Washington Post. He is the co-author of Gangsta Gumbo with Jean-Pierre Labarthe (Camion Blanc Press 2012). He is the author of  two volumes of verse, Ascension From the Ashes (Blackwood Press, 91) and Cinders Rekindled (Jawara Press, 2012). His poetry has appeared in several literary anthologies including Bum Rush the Page: The Def Jam Poetry Anthology, Trouble the Waters and In the Tradition[/author_info]