After Jericho Brown
My god, we leave things green
& greasy, like hands after massaging
kale to make chips. We love in colors
so vibrant; papaya orange, bell pepper
yellow & red. I want you mixed up
in me -- push the rainbow strap
to green -- at all times, especially on days
when the table holds our feet,
colliding & clasping its tar-black grooves.
The Freedom House is one where you
& me can love with no capitalism
to trick into it. & this has no limit to night-
time; the only rhyme or reason
to the day is sunlight & the neighbors
retiring into their homes. Let’s keep them
unaware of the sweat we leave
in the grass while fireflies beam.
Let’s make the earth decay under the makings
of an ancient birth -- so regal,
the purple ridges of the sky blush.
Remind me from behind whose body
is yours. Remind me of the night
even if temporary & fleeting.
My god, we leave things green
& greasy, like hands after massaging
kale to make chips. We love in colors
so vibrant; papaya orange, bell pepper
yellow & red. I want you mixed up
in me -- push the rainbow strap
to green -- at all times, especially on days
when the table holds our feet,
colliding & clasping its tar-black grooves.
The Freedom House is one where you
& me can love with no capitalism
to trick into it. & this has no limit to night-
time; the only rhyme or reason
to the day is sunlight & the neighbors
retiring into their homes. Let’s keep them
unaware of the sweat we leave
in the grass while fireflies beam.
Let’s make the earth decay under the makings
of an ancient birth -- so regal,
the purple ridges of the sky blush.
Remind me from behind whose body
is yours. Remind me of the night
even if temporary & fleeting.
KB is a Black queer nonbinary miracle. They are the author of the chapbook HOW TO IDENTIFY YOURSELF WITH A WOUND (Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022), winner of the 2021 Saguaro Poetry Prize. They are a 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices fellow. Follow them online at @earthtokb.