Roy McBride was born Dec 29th, 1943 with innate poetic instincts that became enhanced by his natural and family surroundings. Roy was a “love” poet because he loved all humanity. He added the vicissitudes of urban life, becoming a much loved urban poet. He was a spoken word performer, poet, journal keeper, visionary, master improviser, teacher, musician, and visual artist. He passed away on July 29th 2011. Secret Traffic, a posthumous publication of some of his poetry very appropriately gives an extensive poetic biography of this gentle man and his accomplishments, publications, and tributes.
BY ROY McBRIDE
1. America is starting to believe in herself.
She is painting her sky a skyer blue.
Latex white clouds float above her
Beneath improved sun
paisley trees flutter harmlessly
in the air of giant wind machines
America is going beyond her own mind
Monday Wednesday and Friday
everyone is white in America
Tuesday and Thursday are black days
Chicano brown Sunday
America is practicing brotherhood
American is playing brotherhood.
2. The world hates America and America hates the world
Giant ocean liners and 747s float each day
down the streets of Paris
tourists gawking through Polaroid windows
Americans bathe in French perfume
Their kitchen faucets are connected to Arabian oilfields
Each native hut in darkest Africa has a new Coke machine
America pays aboriginal people thousands of dollars a year
to work as extras in Margaret Mead”'s books
America hates the world and the world hates America
Latin American dictators sit up nights
studying old Bogart movies.
trying to discover the secret identity
of the Statue of Liberty
Russian spies live in the Pentagon
sweeping floors washing dishes
shipping all garbage air mail to Moscow
Mao Tse Tung has the complete works of
Erle Stanley Gardner beside his bed
America often stares into the ocean
and is so frightened by what she sees
coffee cups shudder in Omaha
3. The President spends all his spare time
nailed to a cross on the White House lawn
But people don”'t appreciate it
They wonder why our President
Doesn”'t sleep on a bed of nails
like the Prime Minister of India
Every eleven years the President
riding a red white and blue float
down Main Street
has a stake driven deep into his heart
but people forget
and soon are booing his lonely spirit
floating above
the political conventions
4. To be free in America you must be brave
braver than Nathan Hale
braver than Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett
braver than Nat Turner
braver than Teddy Roosevelt
braver than Harry Truman
braver even than The Incredible Hulk
who fears nothing but himself
the man the American
deep inside his green skin
To be free in America you must carry
ten thousand years of American guilt
on your shoulders without collapsing
you must shoulder the blame for the loss
of thousands of cargo ships
full of all good things
things all Americans must have
or they will start eating
tearing flesh from bone with perfect justice
To be free in America you must carry
a great pyramid of products made in America
and still walk a straight line
5. The anguished scream
The anguished dream of America
The battles joined
The New York Mets vs. the Chicago Seven
The Kansas City Chiefs vs. The Minnesota Eight Who can win these games
Why can make rules that will make a dream come true
America emerges as a giant wet dream
full of life
full of death
The Black Panthers stalk the New York Yankees
in Lincoln Center sponsored by Leonard Bernstein
6. Men are allegedly killing men
in front of billions of people
Men driving straight into death
fasten their seatbelts
so that their insurance policies
will cover them
with a green mantle of American dollars
Men are locking their most prized possessions
In highly tuned bombs
exploding them at midnight
Americans float band-aids
fifty miles square
over tiny villages
to hide where they”'ve been
7. Americans from Sioux City Iowa are in the capitals
of Europe are in Japan are in South America
meeting people seeing things
Can”'t you see Americans
Trees in Iowa plot the death of America
Dandelions sprout in the suburbs
There is no way to stop this yellow menace
Crabgrass is out to overcome all law and order
Sparrows roost in the eaves of your cities
and will not be moved
Each night the fences that hide you from your neighbors
creep inches closer to where you are sleeping
8. Where would I be without America
Where would we be without America
Henry Ford was an American
John D. Rockefeller was an American
Abraham Lincoln was an American
Where would we be without Ford
Where would we be without Rockefeller
Where would we be without Lincoln
Get in your car
Drive around
Think about this
9. There are holes in America
so wide so deep so full of mystery
that a whole generation of buffalo has disappeared
Indian warriors have been lost in search for culture
A father wanders the dark corners of New York
searching for his runaway daughter
She walks the misty streets of San Francisco
searching for a father
They have ridden in cars buses trains planes ships
deep into the dark holes
We have so far to go Please hurry
Deep beneath America nations are lost
10. Black and White Americans eye each other
over millions of miles of barbed wire
Bodies like scarecrows sway on the wire
Crews from both sides are out to repair gaps
There are so many
They are always behind
Brown Red and Yellow Americans
Search for their place choose sides
Highway departments build rest stops
every fifty miles
11. This land isn”'t America
These trees these mountains aren”'t American
Ask them Ask them if they”'re American
They”'ll laugh at you
They”'ll roll and humble over you””man””
12. Hearts erupt so often in America
people walk lightly sniffing the air
looking around jumping at the slightest sound
Voices of despair float through the cities
night and day
Some days whole cities blow up
13. There are movements in the jungles of our hearts
We are hoping are eyes will adjust to this darkness
It has been so many years since shepherds
silently worshipped the moon
Dogs howl at our lack of understanding
Goldfish mourn the extinction of their finny brothers
Our deeds won”'t remain hidden
Garbage can tops leap under the wheels
of passing trucks
incinerators write messages
high above cities
Dinosaur bones keep appearing in the dining room table
God has forgotten the mandate he gave Adam
Can”'t find anything in his files to account for us.
14. We have mountains to move
mountains that must be trained to sit up
to roll over and play dead to eat from our hands
We have volcanoes that must be taught their ABC”'s
that must learn to live in cities without eruptions
The Rockies and Urals must learn to get strong
despite their differences
Fujiyama Vesuvius Everest Matterhorn Pike”'s Peak
sitting down for a cup of tea or a game of cards
learning how to handle their bodies in heavy traffic
15. The end of this world
climbs out of the ocean
each morning with the sun
Birds chirp that the angel of death
has been asking for us
Walking the wire high above the pit
becomes harder each day
How we wish our mothers would hug us
would stroke our heads and say
it is only a dream.
16. We want to feel better
We want shoes that will sing poetry to our feet
clothes that cling like water to water flesh to flesh
We want to wake to a morning of continuing our joyful habits
on and on and on and on
