Before Writing A Protest Poem [Peace to Gil]
Gil Scott-Heron
Beautiful Sunday. Driving with my family back to NYC after my brother graduated a couple of weeks back. Before I knew Gil was on his last legs.
[taps pencil on Moleskine repeatedly]
“What to write, what to write …”
[taps knee with pencil, taps front car seat with pencil, bites eraser, gets tired of tapping]
“Ahhh! What the hell!”
[scratches head]
“Monuments shake and graves roll …”
[nods to a beat in his head]
“OK, what next, Vilson?”
“I told them the title of the poem is called ‘This Is Not A Test.’ What does it mean to
