Mandolin Blues (Yank Rachell)
Yank Rachell’s mandolin – filigree fills
Intricate tracery
And Yank spelling it out
“Someone would shoot up the place”
In those days
What got stolen –the songs
He could have made a million
“You didn’t know what you didn’t know”
The railroad bosses he served
Face it with dignity
The massive wrongs
Face it down
How nobody would go his bail
How he’d hear his Black name
Ringing all up and down the line
Singing about it
Latterly, on the stages, and for the wages, he deserved
Stephen C. Middleton is a writer working in London. He has had five books published, and been in several anthologies. He was editor of Ostinato, a magazine of jazz and jazz-related poetry. He has been in magazines worldwide, including in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, & mainland Europe.
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