Alphabetical Additions
Language is ever-expanding...
Hello Neighbors,
We would like to thank everyone who gathered together on the special occasion of the unveiling of two new alphabetical additions! Yes, for those not in attendance, Phoenix Town has officially added two new letters to the alphabet as a show of our unwavering trust in and reverence for the Black Lexicon.
The new additions pictured below, are pronounced lon and way and were created by community members, Alisha Acquaye* and Zan Pierce.
To hear lon, play below:
To hear way, play below:
Community members in attendance heard a new rendition of “The Alphabet Song” amended to include the new additions sung by local crooner, Derrick Mills.
We asked a number of attendees about their thoughts on the new letters:
“I really never thought about the need for more letters, but then again why not?” - Jessica Hale, 27
“What are new letters supposed to do? Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool or whatever. But they’re not gonna keep whatever’s out there in the Ruins at bay, or help Forrest Fiars or anyone else like her? Deadass. Look, I appreciate the creativity…I just think there are deeper issues in Phoenix Town, and some of that creativity could be turned toward them instead.” - Ron Coleman, 43
“Baaaabyyyy—I love it. No really, I love it! It really is brilliant.” - LaNay Walker, 46
“How we s’posed to use ‘em in a sentence though? Ion’t get it.” - Devonte Curtis, 30
“Yo, they look cool and all futuristic or whatever. I’m not usin’ ‘em. There’s nothing wrong with the original 26. I don’t even know how to use these!” - JT Waylon, 36
“We’re one of the most innovative people on the planet. So this doesn’t surprise me at all, ya know? LONG LIVE THE BLACK LEXICON!” - Amira Crawley, 33
The additional letters are set to be added to the Phoenix Town school educational curriculum as early as Fall 2028.
Neighborhood Watch | “separate and innovate.”
This week’s message from Neighborhood Watch was channeled by Councilperson AJ Hollis*
resist the temptation of recreation. duplicate and suffocate. separate and innovate.
ps. fix that hole.
We love you. You are seen and sustained.
—Your Neighborhood Watch
News & Events About Town
Today is the last day to sign up to volunteer at our first ever Bizarre Bazaar, coming up soon on October 26th! Sign up with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at endwasnigh@earthlink.net by midnight tonight!
Steve and Glenda Turman of Turman Orchards are reopening their grounds to the community for the first time since 2025! All are invited to warm apple cider made right there at the orchard, hot and fresh desserts to be had on the newly renovated dining deck, and hours of apple picking for the whole family! Please note: Do not speak to the trees. For real. Don’t talk to them, even if you think you have something nice to say—save it. They do not wish to speak to human life at this time and may never wish to speak to us again. Just pick your apples and go.
New Neighbor Spotlight | Belinda Hamilton
Originally from: Birmingham, AL
Aided in The Fall: by shredding documents, hacking/deleting corporate investment accounts, corrupting files, disseminating private information to former international hacktivist collective, Anonymous.
Favorite Color: Chartreuse
Favorite Song: “Down for My N-’s” by C-Murder
Hobbies: biting, fighting, and horseback riding
Horoscopes, September 29 | by Yusef Komunyakaa
my story is
how deep the heart runs
to hide & laugh
with your hands
over your blank mouth
face behind the mask
talking in tongues
something tearing
feathers from a crow
that screams
from the furnace
the black candle
in a skull
sweet pain of meat
let’s pour the river’s rainbow
into our stone water jars
bad luck isn’t red flowers
crushed under jackboots
your story is
a crippled animal
dragging a steel trap
across desert sand
a bee’s sting inside your heart
& its song of honey
in my groin
a factory of blue jays
in honey locust leaves
wet pages of smoke
like a man
deserting his shadow
in dark woods
the dog that limps away
& rotten fruit on the trees
this story is
the speaking skull
on the mantelpiece
the wingspan of a hawk
at the edge of a coyote’s cry
the seventh son’s mojo hand
holding his life together
with a black cat bone
the six grandfathers
& spider woman
the dust wings
of ghost dance vision
deer that can’t
stand for falling
wunmonije witch doctor
backwater blues
juju man
a silk gown on the floor
a black bowl
on a red lacquered table
x-rated
because it’s true
let’s pour starlight
from our stone water jars
pain isn’t just red flowers
crushed under jackboots
my story is
inside a wino’s bottle
the cup blood leaps into
eight-to-the-bar
a man on his knees
facing the golden calf
the silverfish of old lust
mama hoodoo
a gullah basket
woven from your hair
love note from the madhouse
thornbushes
naming the shape
of things to come
old murder weapons
strings of piano wire
let’s pour the night
into our stone water jars
this song isn’t red flowers
crushed under silence
our story is
a rifle butt
across our heads
arpeggio of bowed grass
among glass trees
where they kick down doors
& we swan-dive from
the brooklyn bridge
a post-hypnotic suggestion
a mosaic membrane
skin of words
mirrors shattered
in roadhouses
in the gun-barrel night
how a machine moves
deeper into piles
of bones
the way we
crowd at the foot
of the gallows
This Week’s Community Action - Walk downstairs. Turn right at the bottom of the landing. Enter the laundry room. Look at the shelf on your left. Reach up and feel around on the top shelf. Pull down the first thing you touch. Bring it down in front of your face. What is it?
This has been your bi-weekly newsletter.
—I’m your Neighbor, Sasha Banks. Under the eyes of the future.
“Alphabetical Additions” inspired by Alisha Acquaye
image one, Sasha Banks
image two, photographed by Patricia Gutiérrez Monllor
image three, Nik Gallo
poem, “Blues Chant Hoodoo” by Yusef Komunyakaa