Poems from The Bird
Soldiers of rainbow uniforms
Marching for freedom
Fighting for their existence
Trading closets for caskets
Skeletons no longer a metaphor...
After Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
All my sisters/ mouth the words/ female president/ like a spent prayer/ turn to the others/ deify/ the word...
I don’t eat strawberry-flavored
Candies, save Laffy Taffys or
Starbursts. I don’t eat oranges
Or brown bananas. I’ll only eat
the stalks...
My nose becomes a leaky faucet
whenever I eat soup. The bed must
be remade each day because I sleep
so wildly. My breasts are a treasure...
When it was all over, I wished I had been selfish. Begged for another smile to keep me company, another laugh to break the ice, another hug...