Three Poems By Co-Founder Of Outlaw Poetry, and Blues legend Tony Moffeit

Tony Moffeit is the blues poet and with Todd Moore, co-created the Outlaw Movement in poetry, and creator of the Outlaw Blues Revolution or more simply Outlaw Blues, a unique musical blend of Outlaw Poetry and the Blues. It is my distinct honor to publish three original poems by this legend.


HOW FAR DO YOU HAVE TO GO

ghost blood the blood of haiti
by way of the mississippi river
crow blood back in the alley
what you say i mean what you do
when you cut your hand to mix
my blood with yours let me stand
over hot water boiling eggs and
listening to their hiss like snake
sound snake eggs boxcar tin cans
cochise blood red river whiskey
blood backdoor blood of blues
dive down into the nature of
dissolving midnight bayou
only dream death blood death
restless in the good juke
sawdust floors for the
chosen one the native son
the concho kid
spirits kissed the bread
on the day of the dead
fever crying in the blood


CROSSROADS

where the two worlds intersect
where the two roads intersect
drum capturing
a force within
drum of the voice
drum of the hands
drum of the skin
the effortlessness of possession
the body becomes a crossroads
the drum the ghost the body
drums feeding the night
the night feeding the drums
echoes of the uniting
mr. johnson and marie laveau
robert johnson and marie laveau
echoes of ceremonies
on bayou st. john
and lake pontchartrain
or congo square
the blues poet
and voodoo snake woman
spirit uniting with form
the archetype survives
soul and body both
speaking in tongues
the source of ecstasy
the blues has always
been the blues
light and darkness
and light and
darkness and light
the sound the hand
the body the scream
the shout the dance
i carry a drum
and beat on city streets
a low down blues
wail a sound
for sun and moon
and dance with
clouds and stars
i sit in cars in salvage yards
and sing rainy day blues
a transference
a transfiguration
the screams of the blues
that go right through you
boogies and black cat bones
fireflies and chiggers
dance on stones


A GALAXY OF BLACKNESS

i could no longer

ask why

it was enough

to be

the totem's pulse
beating like a tom-tom

and the trees became

bells of leaving

and even tequila and tortillas
were no rescue

don't want

can't need

can you win

when heart asks heart

and blood asks shadow

speaking in secret tongues

known only to voodoo tribes

a galaxy of blackness

on the edge of footlights

a riptide

the nervous system

seen as constellation

a forgotten dance of wounds


Tony Moffeit is the blues poet from Pueblo, Colorado, who was the winner of the prestigious Jack Kerouac Award from Cherry Valley Editions for his volume of poetry, PUEBLO BLUES, now rare and out-of-print. He was also the author of two other volumes from Cherry Valley Editions: LUMINOUS ANIMAL (New Orleans poems) and NEON PEPPERS (Hank Williams poems). His 1995 volume, POETRY IS DANGEROUS, THE POET IS AN OUTLAW from Floating Island Publications, introduced outlaw essays and some early roots of the philosophy of Outlaw Poetry. Moffeit and poet Todd Moore founded the Outlaw Poetry Movement from 2004 to the present through books and chapbooks by the two poets, e-mail correspondence between them, and poems, essays, and manifestos in publications such as ST. VITUS PRESS AND POETRY REVIEW, POESY, SMALL PRESS REVIEW, CHIRON REVIEW, ZEN BABY, DESERT SHOVEL REVIEW, and on www.m-etropolis.com. Moffeit is the author of twenty additional poetry volumes, including TONY MOFFEIT: GREATEST HITS from Pudding House (2004). He has also been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship in poetry and was the winner of the Thomas Hornsby Ferril Poetry Prize. Moffeit performs his original blues songs and poems with guitarist Rick Terlep, often accompanying himself on conga drum. Tony is also a visual artist who uses a unique process of turning photographs into stunning works of art that are an integral part of the poetry and music of the Outlaw Movement. Tony’s artwork has been shown in several Southern Colorado galleries and is featured on the cover of his latest CD "Outlaw Blues Revolution".