Articles Available Online

For Stephen Samuel Gordon: Spaceape   Sun Ra was on the ark Prince Nico Mbarga, he was on the ark So was Art Taylor and Sonny Simmons, and Bessie Smith and Superblue, all on the ark and Joe Tex and Mitty Collier, Leon Thomas and the Roaring Lion, even Robert Aaron and Lou Ciccotelli were abdominally on the ark The Original Defosto himself was also on the ark, beat rivers of song upon the omele drum, just a cutlass carpenter, no skill with timber, four eyed fish were on the ark Who playing war and fraid blood? Who playing mas and fraid powder? Who prevaricate and ruse, throwing holi powder as ritual upon the ark, but don’t want ink or powder to touch their clothes? Who else was on the ark? Max Roach was on the ark, and Ras Shorty I and David Rudder, Belafonte and Dolphy, them was high up upon the boat Babatunde! was on the ark, Olatunji! mama drum, say you coming to come and you never reach, as far as the leader house, his records and sawed off speaker box, to boom dub roots all around the village – bachelor life – and then you hear he bulling some woman in the congregation, and the shepherd sanding crook-sticks and tapping his foot when the hymn swing, but is suffer he suffering in silence, because while he in church, his woman horning him with the leader, and he don’t need to be a see-er man to see, make him burn his own house down, his hand was good, he was on the ark Bheti was on the ark, and Vino in pyjamas, the wild moon, fever in his throat Performance poet and Stand Up Comic, both were on the boat And the ark was full, but more was to come and they coming still Ethel Waters was on the ark, Octavia Butler, hip good, up upon this boat Slinger Francisco, robed in African wax print and dancing as man, Eric Williams, dead and living same time, also wrapped in kente Larry Lee, masked