Summary

“Riot” begins with an epigraph from Martin Luther King, Jr. which reads, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” After the epigraph, the speaker mockingly describes a fictional man, John Cabot. He is “out of Wilma, once a Wycliffe” (1) and has “whitebluerose below his golden hair” (2). John Cabot “almost forgot” a number of valuable items while fleeing from his home (4). These items include his Jaguar (4), “Grandtully” (and after dinner liquor) (5), a sculpture (7), and grenadine (9).

The speaker explains that John Cabot is afraid “because the ‘Negroes’ were coming down the street” (10). The crowd approaching Cabot’s home is “poor” and “unpretty” (11). According to his perception, they “were coming toward him in rough ranks” (13) as if “in seas” (14). The crowd is described in vulgar terms as “black and loud” (14) and “indiscreet” (15). Cabot then begins to shout racial epithets. He screams, “‘Don’t let it touch...