WHEN THEY BURY TONY ALLEN

let there be silence first
just for a moment while we stretch
our skin across this barrel of an earth

this headless and assless cavity
just for a moment while we stretch
our skin across the splintered wood

of history brown from bucktown to trenchtown
just for a moment while we stretch
our skin from trenchtown to lagos

to brixton the epidermis of everything
just for a moment while we stretch
our skin weathered and wonderthick

staple it to the sides of our world tight
just for a moment while we stretch
our hands above our heads high high high

and together

bang the drum
bang the drum
bang the drum