| Black Friday Riff The day after quietly giving thanks, the mad dash getting stuff! Key word “sale” triggering the Pavlovian Pamplona, running of the bull market. In economic jargon black is good, red is bad, red ink for debt, black, profit. For prison-industrial-complex Black is good, prisons built, beds filled, town economies in the black. Red, not so much, already on reservations... but protecting the resources. The Native Peoples’ Day of Mourning how Pilgrims with black hats (black, profit) tried to eradicate them, their culture, and still trying (black briefcases) is followed by Native American Heritage Day (same day as Black Friday). On the streets of Ferguson, Missouri --and cities across America-- downtrodden too long, Black uprising. Under those streets Red roots, black soil. Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet on Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer, he is a small press publisher and Turtle Islander. His newest haiku chapbook is “so many people go hungry.” He also hosts an audio show "Between the Lines: listening to literature online." You can contact him via his literary website. READ MORE POETRY AND ESSAYS BY MANKH ON AXIS OF LOGIC |