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Ode to Big Trend
Pretty soon the Negroes were looking to get paid. My partner, Big Trend, wiped his ox neck and said He wasn't going to wait too much longer. You Know that look your daddy gets before he whups you? That's how Big Trend looked. There was a pink scar Meddling his forehead. Most people assumed a bear Like him couldn't read anything but a dollar, But I'd watched him tour the used bookstore In town and seen him napping so I knew he held more Than power in those hands. They could tear A Bible in two. Sometimes on the walk home I'd hear Him reciting poems. But come Friday, he was the one The fellas asked to speak to the boss. He'd go alone, Usually, and left behind, we imagined the boss buckled Into Trend's shadow because our money always followed.