right before the banks came

to steal black folks homes

he must have been a warning

he was beautiful homeless funky

dust flying from his dreads as he

contorted his self into shapes

that defied reason with syncopation

that was undeniable beating out

the truth in a dance of the times

jesus ditty bop bopping hyphy breaking

crunkly popping locks moon walking

juking his joints sliding electrically

to the holy ghost dancing on the

corner of pine & 11th he was

facing the old train station

(it ain’t there no more – condo’s)

or the freeway that roars like

an ocean at night early in the

morning making music

with the beeping trucks

of waste at the space

where the old center

of the world collided with

the end of the world

recycling the used to make way

for the shiny and new between

the lines of hungry children

marching single file to

free breakfast lunch programs

or maybe he was on the corner

Newton died on dancing

while parents search for

work that can’t be found

pack up houses after being

hit with balloons full of

piss water tossed

by colonial goons

to be reborn drowning

underwater landless with jesus

c-walking on the corner of 14th

& willow under the mural

before laying down in the middle

of the street on the yellow

line it must

have been a sign but

didn’t nobody pay attention

but i saw it

in the middle of the day

heat rising off the asphalt

jesus barefoot dancing

near the recycling center

(closed now: shut down

because it fed the unwashed

pushing carts full of waste

from the shiny & new) jesus

best not dance there

no more wonder what

happened to dancing jesus

must have been a message

but didn’t nobody hear it

as the trucks left with the

people & the dreams leaving

me to wonder where jesus

is dancing now