for Clarence Fountain and the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama after viewing THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS, the story of Oedipus transplanted to a Southern Baptist Church, and thinking of my grandfather and the history of my people on this land. Each section opens with lyrics quoted from the musical.
“Here they are. The soft eyes open.”
—James Dickey
1.
live where you can
be happy as you can
happier than god has made your father
wandering colonus
as you have wandered selma
and montgomery
as you have circuited
the southern church halls
half-emptied by a young war
wandered from your mothers
then seeking them again again
the dim remembered breasts
offered without judgement
live
you sing to us
live where you can
where have we come to now
what ground is this
what god is honored here
the fields of alabama sparkle in the sun on
broadway
five old men
sparkle in white suits
their fingers light
on one another’s back lights
proclaim The Five Blind Boys
Of Alabama five old men
black and blind
who have no names save one
what ground is this
what god
3.
i could say much to you
if you could understand me
the gods announce themselves to men
by name clarence fountain’s hand
pushes aside the air
between himself and vision
vision of resting place
of sanctuary
clarence fountain’s hand
commands the air
he has seen what he has seen
it has been enough
a voice foretold
that i shall find
sanctuary
somewhere in alabama
a baby is born to a girl
in a tarpaper room
his blind hand shivers
groping toward her breasts
as toward a lamp
she holds him to her
and begins to sing
live where you can
be happy as you can
slowly
the soft eyes open
5.
all eyes fail
before time’s eye
it has been enough
slowly the soft eyes open
what ground is this
what god
i could say much to you
be happy as you can
