Addie Poems

Tears wet at the tip of his chin
Dried, from the wind, on his exposed cheeks
Fresh scent of strange fruit filled the clouds 
Which overcast the band that played mournful music with their walk
That sung sorrow hymns with their prayers
Woe voices...Read More

This is one of the most famous “girl groups” anyone knows.
They began in Passaic, New Jersey as the “Poquellos”
The four members were Shirley Owens and Beverly Lee,
along with Addie “Mickie” Harris, and Doris Coley.
These four young girls had a huge...Read More

ain't it a shame

when hate lynches 
a 14 year old Colored boy
in 1955 Mississippi
and blows away the dreams of
four innocent little Negro girls 
in 1963 Birmingham, Alabama

yeah 
bus that to your segregated thoughts
as I interracially walk you 
through Little Rock,...Read More

For Addie who put up with him
Through all those years of scrabble
Who left before he came so grim
And rose above the rabble
He sits and sips in friendly bars
Filling napkins with his life
I read them later under stars
A  thin worn...Read More

On those cool summer evenings when coyotes haunt the night
And the campfire is dying—burning low, then flaring bright,
A cowboy plays harmonica while others sing and hum
While down by the chuck wagon a lonely guitar does strum.

A few pokes like Lon...Read More

My name is Addie Shaughnessey, 
I’m in love with a Cowboy, 
Though he up and rides away, 
Time and time again. 
 
I understand the lure, 
Of those wide open spaces, 
And I’ll be right here waiting, 
When his trail...Read More