The Original Buckwheat

Poetry. African American Studies. "this hall always real cold / smells like piss / and it's dark / but I'm better off here / than some park bench / in the park / my dinner consists of / crack/twinkies and chips / but it stings when I chew / through this / busted lip" ("home alone"). These rhyming, tightly constructed poems are amazing displays of prosodic accuity and politcal rage. Reg E. Gaines is a Grand Slam Champion, Bessie Award Winner, Grammy Nominee, and two time Tony winner for Best Book : BRING IN DA NOISE, BRING IN DA FUNK. "they search for the land of milk and honey / yet it isn't funny / how the wages they're paid / hardly makes them able / to put milk / on their own dinner table// still" ("next stop roslyn").