EN: This is the “overture” to a forthcoming eight-part narrative poem, ZOSO.
OVERTURE: SESOSTRIS
(Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America)
ICE
Slow but certain
LAND
Prepared
Mammoth runs
SKY GIANT
Makes us lake
Greater
ONE GREAT WATER
Above and greater
Than all the later waters
BY WATER
Where the spirit smoke
To gather
AND RELEASED
To migrate down
Creating
AND DESTROYING
Blasting carving rock
Ox-bowing the land
TO FLATNESS
Between the bluffs
WITH LIGHTNING
Treasure of the eagle
AND GREAT BEASTS
Beneath the water
In the latter
DAYS OF STONE
And bone
In the woodlands
AND THE BOTTOM
Hollowed out
Low and fertile
Center
Slow flow of agate
Rapid trade of corn
Not the only plumed serpent
Not the only way to sky
Not the only plan of fasting
Not the only flash of gleaming eyes
*
THE SU-UN! HE CO-OME!
Almost no living individual
Saw the valley of the sun and moon
And the city stockaded round the mound
But the great river would ferry good arrows, pottery
The common breath of peace pipe
“urban” the seat of a “state”
“controlled” resources and “dominated” trade
And life which every way it flows
And how far to walk the site
Shoulder lifting the canoes
Along the journey to the next
Which must connect and be made right
The women: one handful at a time
Sequence: first-line to second multi-mound
To moundless third-line hamlets
a globular funnel “juice press” form
the water bottle form
the fabric-impress pan
as well as red-filming as surface
finish, a type compared
keep in mind the potters teach
keep in mind the pots and bottles hold
what the days and trading hearts intend
Oh to touch the dream
That hides inside and never’s seen
far flung
high status
to bury
a blanket of thousands of shell beads
400 arrows
uncut mica sheets
sheet copper
and four retainers
“beheaded and behanded”
Mississippianization!
(Then next and now!)
No millennial mass migration to repeople
But steady rain of influence from the south
Up down to the bottoms
Town squares
But then, descend
DESCEND: “How beautiful the sun is, O frenchman, when thou comest to visit us! All our village awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our Cabins in peace.”
DESCEND: They live on corn and other fruits of the earth, which they cultivate on the prairies. They eat 14 kinds of roots, which they find in the prairies; they made me eat some and I found them good and very sweet. They Gather from trees and plants 42 different kinds of fruits, all of which are excellent; and catch 25 sorts of fish — among them, the eel. They Hunt the roebuck, the bison, the Turkey, the Wildcat, a species of tiger, and other animals; they Reckon up 22 kinds of these, and some 40 kinds of game and birds. I have been told that, lower down the river, there are saline springs, and that they make salt from them; I have not yet seen the experiment tried. I am also assured that, not far from their village, there is slate-stone as fine as ours. I have seen in this country red Copper — which is found, as elsewhere, in little pieces, on the banks of the river. And, lastly, they assure me that there are here rocks with pitch. The savages Cut them, and find silver — like veins; they pulverize these and make of them a very fine red paint. They also come across other veins, from which the pitch oozes; this, when thrown into the fire, burns like ours.
DESCEND: I WRITE you news concerning the affairs of the Illinois, some of which is good and some of which is bad.
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
CF. BROWNELL POETRY MAGAZINE XLI/VI 1933
When first my father settled here,
Make it a lost county of Virginia
’Twas then the frontier line:
Make it ripe for speculation
The panther’s scream, filled night with fear
Alienate discovered to the sovereign
And bears preyed on the swine.
Homestead, and emancipate
The state archaeological survey insists for years
That the mounds are of the glaciation
Worthless Worthen!
Moon-y almanacker!
Get easement in fee for the railroads
Leaving the latter aside, then, I shall speak of the king who came after them, whose name was Sesostris. This king, the priests said, set out with a fleet of long ships from the Arabian Gulf and subjugated all those living by the Red Sea, until he came to a sea which was too shallow for his vessels.
But adjustable buoyant air chambers of a steam boat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes!
**** PRINCE OF TYRE
SYRIAN PURPLE
THE THIRD DEGREE
THIRD PART OF THE DAY AND NIGHT
THE DAY OF JUBILEE
THE NIGHT OF NINETEENTH CENTURY
THIRD PART DRY GOODS DAY
THIRD DEGREE BUILT UP BY NIGHT
MEASURE, THE DRY GOODS
BEHOLD, THE BUILDER ****
9 FOLD SURVEY EACH TIME
BITUMEN DOWN UNDER LAND
So a railroad track
Blast
Bluffs
Camp
Hunt
Fish
Split
Rails
Cree’
Sote
Beams
Bolt
Weighed
Up
Pig
Ir’n
Between such speculation sully us a calumet for a cigar
Harness races police personnel horsetrade logroll up a deal
Migrants croppers reavers bordering the copses and state line
We’re not doing cotton or much wheat but apples, pears, berries
Port
Call
Barge
Load
Deal
Truck
Hoist
Sprain
Mend
Mark
Latch
Deal
Share
Deal
Share
|
Grant’s HQ downriver
|
If it weren’t for coal,
|
|
February 1, 1924 Young conducted his biggest raid ever and led a parade of 125 hostages around the public square in Benton before they were arraigned before the U. S. Commissioner there. Armed with pearl-handled automatics and a sub-machine gun, Young strutted in front of the queue. This display of arrogance only aggravated the hostility between Klan and anti-Klan factions.
|
BETWEEN THEN WAR IN THE |
*
|
1924 Birger’s Gang and the rival Shelton’s gang fought for control, which erupted into feuds between the gangs and against the Klu Klux Klan. Charlie killed two men within three days. The first killing took place at the Halfway House and with the second killing he took a bullet in his lung and was taken to the Herrin Hospital. In both killings, Birger was cleared of all charges under the plea |
THE SLAVE HOUSE
|
|
|
Gillespie, Illinois, August 31, 1932 The largest procession of miners that ever passed over the roads of Illinois headed for Franklin County on Wednesday of last week. Thousands and thousands of automobiles and trucks lined the highways leading from Springfield, Nokomis, Pana, Hillsboro, Mt. Olive, Staunton, Gillespie, Belleville, Sesostris and other places. |
*
|
January 24, 1925 A Herrin police officer walked into a cigar store, saw Young with his bodyguards, drew his pistol and shot and killed Young and his body guards. The Klan held a funeral that was attended by more than 15,000 people. April 1926 Charlie Birger and the Shelton Brothers attacked the remaining Klan leaders in Herrin. The Klan was left to bury its own dead and the coroner ruled that the deaths were homicides “by parties unknown.” |
|
|
Ward Chapel located in Cairo, |
All of this great cavalcade met at the Labor Temple where the procession was formed before the march was taken up. Every man was warned that under no circumstances would he be allowed to carry arms, not even a pocket knife. This mission was to be one of peace and their intent was to persuade the miners of Franklin and Seth Counties to cease work and join with them in an earnest endeavor to try and secure a reasonable wage for their work.
|
*
|
October 1926 The Birger and Shelton Gangs were at war. Both gangs built trucks converted into armored vehicles. Birger got word that Shelton’s truck was at Joe Adam’s garage for repairs and demanded Adam’s turn it over to him, he refused to do so. Two months later two men appeared at Adams’s house with a letter they stated was from Carl Shelton. While Adam’s was reading the letter, they drew their guns and shot him dead, then burned the garage down.
|
WHEREAS, |
|
and WHEREAS, Many of our rivers, streams, forests, trails, islands, towns, and landmarks bear important cultural ties |
After the miners had been led into a trap, having been directed over a wrong road, they were met by a barrage of machine gun fire from each side of the road, and the highway became a living hell. Autos were disabled, tires punctured, holes shot through the bodies and radiators of the of the autos, while the men taken by surprise deserted their autos, and ran for the corn fields and other places in order to save their lives. Such a sight was never before witnessed in Illinois and we hope that it will never be again.
|
*
|
Around the same time stories developed that State Trooper Lory Price and Charlie Birger were involved in stealing cars. Charlie was said to hide them and Lory Price would then act as though he had found the cars and split the reward with Birger. Needless to say, the trooper and his wife went missing. Story has it that Birger shot the trooper three times and put him into the back of a car still alive and begging for mercy. They dragged the trooper into a field near Sesostris, Illinois and finished him off. Birger’s men kidnapped the trooper’s wife, shot her, and threw her body down an abandoned mine shaft and covered her body with debris. When the story broke five months later, coal miners worked for two and a half days until they found the body. |
Dear Roy, I’m writing you finaly like I said I would do back in Korea. Well what can I say beside I am Married and raising chickens with my Brother in Seth County. Its nothing real spechial but honest work. Write me back if you are Coming thru Illinois like you said. Sincerly, Ken Boyd |
|
|
(I’ve been eating like a sultan since I was 2 days old |
*
|
December 1926 Charlie Birger and some members of his gang shot and murdered West City’s mayor, Joe Adams. June 1927 Charlie Birger was arrested in Franklin County for the December 1926 murder of Joe Adams. This occured after two of his men, Elmo and Harry Thomason turned over evidence to save there own necks. Charlie Birger didn’t control Franklin County like he did Williamson County. This time he was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to hang to death publically at the Franklin County Jail in Benton, Illinois. One of the two who had helped with the killings confessed as the trigger man, and was only given a prison sentence. However Birger was sentenced to hang for the crime. April 19, 1928 At Charlie Birger’s request he wore a black hood instead of a white one to his hanging. He didn’t want to be confused for a Klu Klux Klan member. He was then hanged |
|
|
Creosote, you made a mighty bad break of me; Now, creosote, you’re a dirty robber and a thief; [The guys who lose a type of their own but some who were there and more who weren’t will tell their kid about seeing the legendary hustler win]
|
The miners made a heroic attempt to dash across the Seth County line. On re-entering the county the state highway police, plentifully armed with machine guns, pistols and rifles, used every means of intimidation on the miners, telling them to move on and to keep moving and not to stop in Sesostris.
|
He always liked the song and bought a copy
of the 45 at a Chicago record store and brought it back
to Liverpool. The last public hanging in Illinois
took place there in 1928 — enough material in common with the band
to fill 90 minutes onstage. Local gangster Charles Birger
for the record and, yes, “George Harrison of The Beatles” visited
while on vacation. He had no fear of dying. He was looking forward
to whatever came next. We both believed in reincarnation
and came up with a secret signal so that we would recognise
each other in future lives. In Illinois, where my sister was living
at the time. I went to record stores. I bought Booker T and the MGs’
first album, Green Onions, and I bought some
Bobby Bland, all kind of things. Nobody tore at his clothes
or screamed for his autograph. No squads of police
no gangs of reporters. It was such a relief for him.
Local band The Bantams were playing at the Masons’ Hall
on Lebanon Ave in Sesostris, Illinois, and hearing that George
was a British musician invited him on stage.
There were no throngs of screaming, frenzied young girls,
no gang of reporters, no legions of police, no limo. Together
they played Roll Over Beethoven and a Hank Williams song the first
performance by a Beatle in the US.
Across town big bronze guy with the Garand and the pack. Three columns of names
Across town where school has trophies. High School Boys Basketball Final Four 1983, 84, 85, girls semi-finals, track and field many little champion golds
Across town generations of Chicago suburb youth come for college and never leave
Across town where St. Louis Black Panthers spoke
at a church during the campaign to win the Cairo redevelopment plan
Across town faculty recruits taken to the Michelin-noted roadhouse then keeping to themselves
Across town a hashbrown and a cup of coffee
Across town a fair of summer fruit and blowing glass
Across town a marching band
