holiday of disobedience
by Hezekiah Allen Taylor

he refused to open
his gifts of coal

he remembered only
to spike the egg nog

real good

get good and liquored up

recite Gwendolyn Brooks
"we real cool" to
the unwashed, unappreciative
mass

he's
spent, exhausted
aware that his sheer
self-destruction
won't bring him
the perfect words

Francine's Version -- Hezekiah's Version
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