Trouble Means You’re Alone

Poems about James Baldwin
(1924-1987)

I want to be an honest man
and a good writer.

He arrived in France
with forty dollars
no savings
no French
nights in sordid hotels
days in expat cafés
writing tragic stories
his characters stuck
in the cage of reality:
They got us in a trick
bag, baby.

Life-changing obsession
with a white teenage boy
who married a black actress
leaving him flailing
a self-destroying limbo
suicide or harsh reality:
facing who he was

a small, slight man
charming, entertaining
big eyes, big grin
his stature growing
on the cover of Time

literary, wild and cool
or drunk, depressed
writing, always writing
with morality, humanity
clarity, brevity, baby
we are gonna burn it down.

A big house on a hill
in the south of France
Johnny Walker Black
all night long
typing, typing
to change the world
an honest man
a good writer
still relevant today.