BYRD filddles in Purgatory

Byrd fiddles in Purgatory

Byrd awakens in Purgatory,
to him, anywhere outside
The District or WVA

His old fiddle's in his hands.
“I don’t know who this fiddle's
su-post to punish, Re-publicans
or white niggers!” he quips.

Instantly, a black angel pops him
to the black Byrds' slave quarters
where he’s told to play for them.

He pleads: “I was born
Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.;
get me some Sale niggers.”
Black Sales appear in quarters
they’ve built for themselves.

Byrd sees no way in Purgatory
to fluff his KKK past & admits
“Yes, I was. The Klan a-woke
my ambition to run for office.”
Opaque admission fails as
Klan ghosts rise in sheets.

Byrd sees Purgatory-time
won't be as comfortable as
5 decades in U.S. Congress.
“This old fiddle's jest for me,”
he admits ruefully, re-tuning.


(28 JUN 10, Santa Clara CA)v8
a variant appears on p.93 of GARGOYLE 57 (2011)

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