David Moore was a master language artist, the Poet Laureate of the Black Arts Movement of Chicago. He was a singular voice on the national arts scene as well. A big, bold brother, he was known to the network of artists and militants as Moose. He also took the name Amus Mor. Moose taught me and shared with me his amazing spirit of affirming life as he knew it, especially as he understood the power of music, and the intellectual power of the Black nationalist tradition.
He never was able to publish much of his work, although recently he has been published in most of the major anthologies of African American literature. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago, I took some of my grant money and paid to publish The Coming of John, consisting of three of his poems inspired by the iconic musical giant John Coltrane. We have a collection of his writing (poetry, short story, and prose) and commentary by some of his close Chicago peers to be published as The Book of Amus Mor. We are looking for a publisher.
Amus Mor
When Saxes Were King
I must dance to win a war
Must swing so hard I feel no death
Must welcome night
And days must live my plans
To get my friends I must do guerrilla ballet
A hidden war is silent
Silent as the sun is
Silent as rivers
Loud as the 1950s
Quiet as chippies on the lighted strip
When saxes were king
To read more poems of Amus Mor, purchase a copy of CR 62.4/63.1/2.