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The Whistle Lyrics by Yusef Komunyakaa

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The seven o'clock whistle
Made the morning air fulvous
With a metallic syncopation
A key to a door in the sky---opening
& closing flesh. The melody
Men & women built lives around
Sonorous as the queen bee's fat
Hum drawing workers from flowers
Back to the colonized heart
A titanous puff of steam rose
From the dragon trapped below
Iron, bricks, & wood
The whole black machine
Shuddered: blue jays & redbirds
Wove light through leaves
& something dead under the foundation
Brought worms to life
Men capped their thermoses
Switched off Loretta Lynn
& slid from trucks & cars
The rip saws throttled
& swung out over logs
On conveyer belts
Daddy lifted the tongs
To his right shoulder . . . a winch
Uncoiled the steel cable
From its oily scrotum;
He waved to the winchman
& iron teeth bit into the pine
Yellow forklifts darted
With lumber to boxcars
Marked for distant cities
At noon, Daddy would walk
Across the field of goldenrod
& mustard weeds, the pollen
Bright & sullen on his overalls
He'd eat on our screened-in
Back porch---red beans & rice
With hamhocks & cornbread
Lemonade & peach Jello
The one o'clock bleat
Burned sweat & salt into afternoon
& the wheels within wheels
Unlocked again, pulling rough boards
Into the plane's pneumatic grip
Wild geese moved like a wedge
Between sky & sagebrush
As Daddy pulled the cable
To the edge of the millpond
& sleepwalked cypress logs
The day turned on its axle
& pyramids of russet sawdust
Formed under corrugated
Blowpipes fifty feet high
The five o'clock whistle
Bellowed like a bull, controlling
Clocks on kitchen walls;
Women dabbed loud perfume
Behind their ears & set tables
Covered with flowered oilcloth
2
When my father was kicked by the foreman
He booted him back
& his dreams slouched into an aftershock
Of dark women whispering
To each other. Like petals of a black rose
In one of Busby Berkeley's
Oscillating dances in a broken room. Shadows
Runagates & Marys
The steel-gray evening was a canvas
Zigzagged with questions
Curling up from smokestacks, as dusky birds
Brushed blues into a montage
Traced back to L'Amistad & the psychosis
Behind Birth of a Nation
With eyes against glass & ears to diaphanous doors
I heard a cornered prayer
Car lights rubbed against our windows
Ravenous as snow wolves
A brick fell into the livingroom like a black body
& a riot of drunk curses
Left the gladioli & zinnias
Maimed. Double dares
Took root in night soil
The whistle boiled
Gutbucket underneath silence
& burned with wrath
But by then Daddy was with Uncle James
Outside The Crossroad
Their calloused fingers caressing the .38
On the seat of the pickup;
Maybe it was the pine-scented moonglow
That made him look so young
& faceless, wearing his mother's powder blue
Sunday dress & veiled hat
Credits
Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa

About “The Whistle” by Yusef Komunyakaa

Read the complete lyrics to "The Whistle" by Yusef Komunyakaa. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Rap.

"The Whistle" is performed by Yusef Komunyakaa. This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "The Whistle", explore more songs by Yusef Komunyakaa using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"The Whistle" is credited to Yusef Komunyakaa. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

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Visit the Yusef Komunyakaa artist page at /artist/yusef-komunyakaa for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.