Poppa Chicken by Margaret Walker
"Poppa Chicken" is a poem by Margaret Walker that presents a complex portrayal of a character often seen as a caricature of a pimp. It reflects on themes of power, violence, and the commodification of sex, showcasing Poppa Chicken as a stylish yet brutal figure who maintains control over the women in his life through fear and intimidation. The poem consists of twelve four-line stanzas with a consistent rhyme scheme, contributing to its lyrical quality.
Poppa Chicken is depicted as both an outlaw and a folk hero, navigating the criminal underworld with a sense of bravado while also demonstrating a vulnerability in his fleeting romantic encounters. His character embodies a paradox where, despite his violent and oppressive behavior, he experiences moments of love and loss, suggesting a deeper commentary on the emotional complexities of those involved in such exploitative dynamics. As the poem unfolds, it invites readers to consider the nuanced relationships between power, submission, and the human experience within the context of sexuality and survival. Through this rich tapestry of themes, Walker challenges readers to reflect on the implications of Poppa Chicken's life and the lives of those around him.
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Poppa Chicken by Margaret Walker
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1942
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“Poppa Chicken” is a caricature of a pimp. He has style. He is a commodifier of sex. He is violent. He is an outlaw who has paid off the authorities to shorten the prison time he ultimately must serve. Then he gets old. He has sinister heroic status. The ballad has twelve four-line stanzas, rhymed abcb, with lines from five to eight syllables.
Poppa Chicken was a “sugar daddy” in his time, with a stable of many women. He made lots of money, and he harried his women “employees,” who said he was swell (probably out of well-grounded fear of reprisal for disrespect). Poppa Chicken’s face was “long and black” with a wide grin. When he went on show, his women heralded his progress with hysterical shouts. Inexorably, Poppa Chicken brutalized the women to command their obedience—the poem’s line “Treat ’em rough and make them say/ Poppa Chicken’s fine!” is a euphemism that might mask his viciousness. Poppa also carried guns and knives and inevitably killed a “guy”; jailed, he bought himself a short sentence, and released, his ambivalent folk-hero status grew, and he seemed unchanged by his experience. Poppa’s personality is one of conspicuous consumption, especially of custom cigars and large diamonds. In his post-jail life, he boldly carries no gun and swears at police officers (whom he has likely bribed). He eventually meets a woman with whom he actually falls in love, thereby acquiring a poignant and ominous vulnerability. However, soon “her man Joe”—perhaps her pimp of more youthful strength than Poppa—ends the affair, a poetically just denial of the experience of a love relationship for a person who forbade sentiment in the relationships between his employees and their customers. Poppa survives, but the reader now understands him to be the victim of his business as much as the women are and their “johns” who work for him in the soulless grapplings of prostitution.
Bibliography
Barksdale, Richard K. “Margaret Walker: Folk Orature and Historical Prophecy.” In Black American Poets Between Worlds, 1940-1960, edited by R. Baxter Miller. Tennessee Studies in Literature 30. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986.
Berke, Nancy. Women Poets on the Left: Lola Ridge, Genevieve Taggard, Margaret Walker. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.
Buckner, B. Dilla. “Folkloric Elements in Margaret Walker’s Poetry.” CLA Journal 33 (1990): 367-377.
Carmichael, Jacqueline Miller. Trumpeting a Fiery Sound: History and Folklore in Margaret Walker’s “Jubilee.” Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998.
Graham, Maryemma, ed. Conversations with Margaret Walker. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2002.
Graham, Maryemma, ed. Fields Watered with Blood: Critical Essays on Margaret Walker. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001.
Klotmas, Phyllis. “’Oh Freedom’—Women and History in Margaret Walker’s Jubilee.” Black American Literature Forum 11 (1977): 139-145.
Miller, R. Baxter. “The ’Intricate Design’ of Margaret Walker: Literary and Biblical Re-Creation in Southern History.” In Black American Poets Between Worlds, 1940-1960, edited by Miller. Tennessee Studies in Literature 30. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986.
Ward, Jerry W., Jr. “A Writer for Her People: An Interview with Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander.” Mississippi Quarterly 41, no. 4 (Fall, 1998): 515-527.