“west of philly” by Yolanda Wisher

west of philly
by Yolanda Wisher

they asked me to write a poem like a lush life,
a johnny hartman ¹ poem. a poem that would make
your fake eyelashes fall off. a poem with the city all
up in it. a poem, matter of fact, like a city, one that
can only be reached by train. yeah, write us a poem
like a train, but not like coltrane ² . just write a coltrane
poem that contains the essence of the city, the way
the horizon sounds like elvin jones ³ playing cymbals
& trash trucks. i mean, just write a poem that contains
the essence of west philly—a poem you’ve already
written—write that. yeah, write a recycled philly poem
about a philly that doesn’t exist anymore. write the
sequel. write a new romancing the stone ⁴ , but set it in
philly, starring a black woman poet & a belizean sailor ⁵ .
write that scene where your angry neighbors shut down
a fast food joint with danny devito or those motley kids
discover the smirking mouth of a creek buried under
43rd ⁶ . make sure it’s juicy with brotherly love & that other
stuff. drop-in a cheesesteak, but make sure it’s gluten-free
because our audience is particular. y’know, like people who
don’t like poetry. not that you can’t write what you want,
but for now, just write it like you love every damn inch
of the city. even the hawks & vultures & raccoons & the
characters like knives sharpened by the week, or like fruit
bruised & first-frosted. write it like you believe the city has
seasons, that it can change in its deepest cracks, unseen
corners. write like you know these corners, you know
why this building is painted pink, why this one is empty,
why this one is a missing tooth on the block. write it like
you know what it’s like for a tooth to be taken. write it
like you know what it’s like for a home to be lost. or try
writing it like you carry the voices of lost homes to bed
with you. like they are evidence & you are a detective.
like they are memories & you are family. write it like you
can see beyond seeing. like you know the origin of
shoulders sharp as javelins ⁷ , can decode 3-pointed stars
hunched under streetlights. like you are related to the men
selling socks & incense, oils & belts. like you can read the
compass on their faces. like you can recreate the arpeggios ⁸
of the one-eyed singer or the $200 upright with beer-colored
keys at the thrift store. just write a poem like a secondhand
store full of dishes & leather jackets. vibrating with the leftovers
of people. bleeding in solidarity with a woman in a ripped red
sweater like an ear, wailing in the street one summer night.
a poem full of peach seeds & lightning bugs. a poem that can
change the color of the sky.

Credit Line: Copyright © 2018 by Yolanda Wisher. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 9, 2018, by the Academy of American Poets. Used with permission of the author. 

Use the See Hear, Feel Connection Questions handout to help students analyze this text. 

• 1Johnny Hartman: American vocal jazz musician active from the 1940s to the 1960s.
• 2Coltrane: American jazz saxophonist from Philadelphia, active from the 1940s to the 1960s.
• 3Elvin Jones: American jazz drummer active from the 1940s through the 1990s.
• 4romancing the stone: 1984 action-adventure comedy film about a white female romance novelist from New York City who travels to Colombia
• 5belizean sailor: A sailor from Belize, a country on the northeastern coast of Central America.
• 6Allusions to the movie Romancing the Stone.
• 7javelins: spear designed to be thrown, once used as a weapon.
• 8arpeggios: a broken chord where the notes of a chord are played individually rather than striking them all at once.