Courage Song for Scott Warren

Sing: no more makeshift crosses
In the gangplank desert,

No more “dogcatcher trucks,”
No more jawbones under the moon—

Bring your rebellious grit,
Like a bromide or a borderland candle,

To our bigotry-is-commonplace republic’s
Chaos. Bold anima, dissenting angel,

Among the betraying cliffs and dry washes,
The yellow plumes of the palo verde,

Be runagate Harriet in a midnight cane field
(General Tubman!), be Martin bravely writing

In an abysmal Birmingham jail.
Yes, your boundless shepherd’s gallantry,

Your on-tap compassion
Is the rescuing sip

& the heaven-sent gourd required
At all our desperate crossings.