The Whistle

"The Whistle" is a poem inspired by the story of Emmett Till.  A group of former students recited this piece during a public performance in March, 2015, at my favorite coffee house, The Friendly Coffee Lounge.  What pride I felt with these girls!  The poem appears in my chapbook, and the live performance can be viewed here:

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The Whistle
(The murder of Emmett Till)

Did he whistle?
He did.
No, sir.
I do not recall.

Who the hell cares about the whistle?

The Chicago boy
just 14
that Chicago 14-year-old Negro boy
who whistled
whistled while down visiting Money
Money, Mississippi
whistled at a white woman--
He shoulda known not to
not to whistle at no woman
no white woman
shoulda known not to whistle at no white woman
while down in
Mississippi
when you’re a 14-year-old boy
from Chicago
when you’re a Negro boy
no matter the age and
birthplace
but especially when you’re a
14-year-old Negro boy from up north
from Chicago.

But they say he did it
that he done whistled
that he done whistled at the white woman
and so they came for him
the white woman’s husband and his brother
they came for the Negro boy who whistled
found him in his uncle’s house
asleep in the black of night
found the Negro boy asleep, not thinking
about the whistle
but the husband and brother sure were
and they roused that boy
that Negro boy
and kidnapped ‘im
took ‘im away to teach ‘im a lesson
teach ‘im a lesson is what they done did

carry ‘im out back
to the car
drive ‘im down the road
to the farm
shoot ‘im in the head
to the sound of drunken laughter
tie ‘em with wire
to the cotton gin

mess up his face and ears just for fun
drag him to the river ‘fore the rising of the sun
walkin’ aways as if a battle they’d won

a battle between
power and

power-
less-
ness

a battle between a
deranged society and a boy
a 14-year-old boy
a 14-year-old Negro boy from Chicago

who whistled
who dared to whistle
whistle at a white woman
while visiting Money, Mississippi

That whistle.

Did he whistle?
He did.
No, sir.
I do not recall.

Who the hell cares about the whistle!

(originally published in my chapbook One Thing Leads to Another, 2015)