Listen Carefully for the Sound of Colorism
Oh I'm looking but I lost
my glasses at a gas station
10 miles south. Yes I’m getting closer
but I can’t quite remember
when I lost you or how
you take your meat. Is that you
riding shotgun in an old pickup?
No, just a group of horses out
the corner of my eye. Oh,
can I feel your galloping
heartbeat against my ear? No,
that's just a djembe beckoning me
to cross the crowded street.
I’ve Been Tired, I’ve Had Pain
The thunder wakes a violence
which grows from beneath my toenails,
and like lightning, I stay quiet.
The thunder makes a violent
crack between my eyelids
and a panther wakes up in the hail.
The thunder makes a violet
grow quickly, in color,
so there’s no reason I should quail.
I Want to Fly South for Winter, But My Arms Are So Heavy at My Sides
Thick cut bacon homemade
by Grandma with a mug
of hot coffee fresh from
the French press this morning
staying warm and hopeful
keeping the tv low
Lord knows there are demons
coming in with the eastern winds.
At twenty three miles
per hour the demons
come disguised in blue light
hide quietly under
the sink and the oak bed
Grandma said it would snow
Lord knows we all could use
a bright and boundless covering.