Henry Dumas's short poems, Amiri Baraka's Low Coup

First, I discovered Amiri Baraka's low coup -- his short, dagger-like poems where he's making a funny critique or point.

Here's Baraka's "Low Coup Motive": 

     Devil sd 

     He left Heaven 

Because there 

     Was too many

       Niggers  

That’s why he started 

      Europe

  

Here's Baraka's "Monday in B-Flat"

I can pray 

    all day 

    & God 

    wont come.

But if I call 

            911

        The Devil 

            Be here

        in a minute!

Some years later, I discovered Henry Dumas's short poems from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Dumas was killed in 1968. 

Here's Dumas's poem "Thought":

One of the greatest roles 

ever created by Western man 

has been the role of “Negro.” 

One of the greatest actors

to play the role has been 

the “Nigger.”

Here's Dumas's poem "Funk":

The great god Shango in the African sea

Reached down with palm oil and oozed out me

I'm not sure if Baraka was influenced by Dumas's short poems, but I do see some correlation. Baraka was familiar with Dumas's poetry too, for sure, as he wrote the introduction to Dumas's posthumously published Poetry for My People (1970).

Whatever the case, it's useful thinking about the links between Dumas's short poems and Baraka's low coup.