Escape

I would dream about Escaping...
BREATH
it was far away from my troubles
my heart aches
I escaped on the bus ride home
sitting next to the 300 pound man
smelling like hot fish...yet i
BREATH
intoxicating my senses with pines
and ocean drops
that
lingered in torquoise drifts
of freedom and elastic breeze
my heart would stop
fresh halt as i dreamt about...
Escaping
to a small house
at the foot of the Ocean
one bedroom, tin roof and a window
where everything was tinted
rose colored...mirage of desert sands
magis, and nubian sons
My door was a magical portal
where reality would
HALT
and respect my space...
BREATH
my tastes bud extended to the point
where i could TASTE Escape
where sensory eclipse sizzled in an Eastern sun
and January was HOT
mhhhh...i imagined blue birds, and
purple plants, and pink leaves
while i marched up the four story stairs
to my flat...
and dragged two kids, carried a baby and heavy bags
i wasn't there, i was Escaping...
BREATH
to a far away land where i was Makeda
milking my skin with the finest oils,
spreading my seeds like the flow of the nile
sweetening my flower with Juniper incense
as i draped lazily on the spiritual tableau
waiting for my Pharaoh...
And as I slaved over a hot stove
and lay under a sweating husband
spreading my legs for his own escape
i would imagine myself under water
in a reef filled with golden spells
and aquamarine bubbles,
i would touch the sole of the earth
encasing myself in wisdom and pride
drinking wine with daylight and night
floating under water, in a cold gray bath
Breathing...

Friends

She played mind strings with my hair
trumpet with my heart
sowed songs of insurrection
that laid seeds in my voice
calling on wind pipes
stuffing syllables with air
she strove through my wishes
engraving road flowers in my bed
and when i dreamt
it was of tomorrow
laced with the promises she lended
i was taken with her smile
sending beads of light to my soul
i was in her like sunshine in the air
proud, intimidated, delicate, without a care

Upon Knowing

It is said of man that the moon
dressed him and gave life to his dreams
and that the sun kissed him and pulled him from sleep,
one hour before rain clouds
screamed Salvation
i sat upon the edge of the world
fantasizing about death
and freedom, and Love...
i wrote songs with the salt of my tears
and cradled my insecurities to my chest
in wanton sweeps i shed all visionaries
and prophets
hailing for the crude images of my childhood:
Woman with crusted foot washing against
the banks of a river
Man with harsh over tones grazing
the beasts of the land...
and nothing fazed me in my solitude
intense with nothingness
and emptiness
i was filled the chi of the world
low force
optimum standings
i let go of everything i knew.

Con-Sequence

I'm must set
with a dusty love
stinging the sky
with a musky thought
i rot set
with a jaunty slot
waking on rough sex
with costly joy
Blame out reck
i do not relate
games out rule
i cannot sustain
flame round you
and your instant state
I do you
with a rusty blade

No Hope

I could have talked her to death
with
stories of redemption
and emancipation
about the glory of her blackness
while caressing her face
with historical balm
about her people and
her victories
and her beauty and sensuality
i could have spit to her that
her people built Egypt
and that her sweat created the nile
but i just stood there
transfixed by her inner hatred
of self
for us
and them
while she sluted around with the
Nigger word
Fucking the Nigger mentality
with bootie shorts
and fat belly spilling out
with cakey mascara
and ruby red lip stick
making her look
young and fuckable
shaking down to Hot boyz
I could have held her close to me
and showed her that
you could keep it real
while wanting to be somewhere better
and that she didn't have to settle
for miccy d's
and finger licking good fast food chains
that only paid minimum wage
with no benefits for the future
I could have showed her that there was more to being black
than having a basket ball dream or a pop star
fantasy
and that all that glistened wasn't always gold
that she didn't have to feel ugly because her
skin was darker than the grocery bag
she used to carry home her
generic products, while wearing designer must have's
carry home her baby indicator
another baby daddy, another no hope.