WORLD WIDE AFRICA THE VOICE OF THE PAN AFRICAN MOVEMENT

ON MY BLOCK

BY MONA LISA SALOY

The milkman sells dream books

And nickel bets once a week.

  Never pay much mind 

   never pay much mind.

Chicken wire fences

keeps out stray cats and kids.

Pecan tree brunches hold clothesline,

Wrinkled sheds, and army blankets

that shade the sun from

big galvanized tubs of shrimp,

Oysters, and crayfish.

 Never pay much mind

Louisiana red clay 

Track every living room floor each summer

'til it smokes in red clouds,

When air never cools,

but lights up with fireflies dancing,

Never pay much mind.

On my block,

the heat stick throat

and streams off the banquette

 if you spill a hucklebuck

or a snowball cone

 Never pay much mind.

Smiling faces from coconut mills

to copper to coffee say,

"Hey now," or "What'cha know?"

Never pay much mind

Never pay much mind.