Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers

Turn Me Loose

Turn Me Loose

THE UNGHOSTING OF MEDGAR EVERS

Poems By

Frank X Walker

Published by The University of Georgia Press

Athens, Georgia 30602

www.ugapress.org

©2013 by Frank X Walker

All rights reserved

Designed by Kaelin Chappell Broaddus

Set in 10/14 Century Old Style

Manufactured by Sheridan Books

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for

permanence and durability of the Committee on

Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the

Council on Library Resources.

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 17 P 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Walker, Frank X., 1961–

[Poems. Selections]

Turn me loose : the unghosting of Medgar Evers :

poems / by Frank X. Walker.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8203-4541-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-8203-4541-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Evers, Medgar Wiley, 1925–1963—Poetry.

2. United States-—Race relations—Poetry. I. Title.

PS3623.A359T87 2013

811′.6–dc23

2012046531

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

ISBN for digital edition: 978-0-8203-4586-4

Dedicated to the

Mississippi Truth Project

and the invisible army

of soldiers for justice

whose names might

never be spoken.

If I die, it will be in a good cause.

I’ve been fighting for America just

as much as the soldiers in Vietnam.

I do not believe in violence either by

whites or Negroes. That is why I am

working tirelessly with the NAACP in

a peaceful struggle for justice.

—MEDGAR EVERS

When I go to Hades, I’m going to raise

hell all over Hades till I get to the white

section. For the next 15 years we here

in Mississippi are going to have to do

a lot of shooting to protect our wives

and children from a lot of bad niggers.

—BYRON DE LA BECKWITH

Contents

FOREWORD

How Do We Comply?:

Answering the Call of Medgar Evers

Michelle S. Hite

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART I DIXIE SUITE

What Kills Me

Ambiguity over the Confederate Flag

Rotten Fruit

Humor Me

The N-Word

Southern Sports

Byron De La Beckwith Dreaming I

I’d Wish I Was in Dixie Too

PART II SOUTHERN DREAMS

Fire Proof

Listening to Music

Life Apes Art Apes Life: Byron De La Beckwith Reflects on Birth of a Nation

White of Way

Music, Niggers & Jews

Swamp Thing

Stand by Your Man

Husbandry

Unwritten Rules for Young Black Boys Wanting to Live in Mississippi Long Enough to Become Men

PART III LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY …

Byron De La Beckwith Dreaming II

After Dinner in Money, Mississippi

World War Too

Believing in Hymn

Southern Bells

Fighting Extinction

Harriet Tubman as Villain: A Ghost Story

Legal Lynching

After the FBI Searched the Bayou

Haiku for Emmett Till

No More Fear

When Death Moved In

PART IV GALLANT SOUTH

Byron De La Beckwith Dreaming III

After Birth

Sorority Meeting

One-Third of 180 Grams of Lead

Arlington

Cross-Examination

Bighearted

Anatomy of