he has eyes like a raccoon
but he has a good hat
the sun on my back
and the stars on my left
sun and stars
stars and sun
he has eyes like a raccoon
but he has a good hat
I was so afraid to leave you
I didn’t realize this
until recently,
when she, with delicate fingers,
swiss-cheesed the lobes of my ears and
the flesh between my toes,
and placed over my eyes a terry cloth towel
to block the nosy sunlight
from distracting me.
Holy
nose,
toes,
ear lobes,
white walls,
crystals,
salt rocks,
the digital rendering of a waterfall.
Flat on my back,
belly exposed,
sweaty palms crossed
over breasts;
nose working over time.
the moisture worked
its way up and out,
tear drops surrendered sleepy
yawns, obeyed
and fell in line,
leached
from organs and
tissues,
they
called to each other
reunited in swollen eyelids
and proclaimed:
FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM
(or, “I am not afraid to leave you,
I left you.”)
and on the seventh day
the Lord saw what he had made,
and said
“It IS GOOD.”
Holy
nose,
toes,
ear lobes,
white walls,
crystals,
salt rocks,
the digital rendering of a waterfall.
how many tattoos
lay congealed at the bottom
the Glassell Park pool
crying, scared, seems confused,
in need of food, water, hygiene;
black, afro
On medication
Not married
Not even really
Public yet
Money
Job?
I walk down the street
sunset blvd
towards a latte
I step over
a woman
black as midnight
hands in prayer
supine
wet cement
she howls
are those tears?
we pretend
they are raindrops
washing
the dirt off her chin