Duppy

(Woods) Woke to blood on the gate Witchcraft whispered by maids The fear under the mask/my father’s face ashen Hands grasping/held us back We were kids laughing A few months later the hearse had him Graveside Women clutch white napkins Black magic Rumors it wasn’t no accident State funeral/uniforms and acronyms Eat with the dead pour strong spirits We Africans Yeah, me and my sister We never really laughed again It’s obeah we come for And paid good money Last weapon of the poor For this children went hungry Blood on the door Buried charms Paw of monkey Macbeth palms Dry-eyed in the Beloved Country Burglar alarm/reach for the heat Find nothing Die quietly in your sleep They still say your wife did something Upon your house a pox A fortnight, body in a box Don’t believe me, just watch Chorus: I see fire in a dead mans eyes 4X (Elucid) Once upon a lynching Rank fumes of incense Root workers herb mixing Graveyard dirt pinching Intention imprint Fragrant oils holy waters Sacrifice for those who fell before us Retreat to the forest where the moon don’t shine And the sun barely sweeps the floor 4 corners Crude shrines Brick dust outlines Marooned Psychic ties Humbly we commune Perfumed resin Laws of attraction Bats blood Black arts Conjure man incantations Fireside divination Don’t forget to feed the loas When the spirit leads Tell my horse ill ride sidesaddle Star charts and dream books Papa la bas live from the botanica All white attire with a mugwort amulet Third eye pierce Geode chevron amethyst Nature my cathedral Backwater crossroads talisman Gypsy woman with a fever vision Destiny altered in this land of the living Elders still whisper Listen in the stillness Chorus: I see fire in a a dead mans eyes 4 X