Frivolous Quill

What’s one more dish to clean,
spill to wipe, errand to run?
Another ache, another
twinge, another throb? If bad
things come in threes then you’ve
stopped counting, which God tried
to tell Job but Job had other
things on his mind like flaming
sheep and absconded camels, not
to mention his son’s leaky roof.
And this was before ultrasounds
and MRIs and sinister masses, so
what else should we expect except
mounting, increasingly specific
woes?

Take my bones when I am finished
with them. Legs here-to-thering,

fingers tearing, knuckles cracking,
toes maintaining the balance

of my imperfecting spine. Place
my corpse in the fermenting ground

until the Earth has had its fill, until
the mycelium has eaten well

and spread word of my demise. Age
my bones to usefulness and do

with them as you will. Be-table my femur,
adorn with my ribs and let me

breathe again. Rest my hips atop my feet
in a parody of eternal dance, set my skull

to watch above any sacred thing
or special thing or Tuesday thing.

Add my voice to the calcified choir
somewhere in the back and let me

sing of your life, your worth, your
deeply tethered soul and of the day

you join your voice to mine in
the harmony of the steadfast dark.

(AFTER READING AN ANTHOLOGY OF BLACK POETS ON THE OCCASION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH)

TO: BLACK POETS
FROM: ALLIED POET (AND FRIEND)

RE: THE THING ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE

IN LIGHT OF 1) RECENT HISTORIC EVENTS AND 2) SUBSEQUENT, APPARENT REGRESSION OF SOCIETAL NORMS, AND 3) TO ASSIST IN YOUR ENGAGEMENT WITH AND EXPANSION WITHIN WHITE AUDIENCES, THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES ARE PROPOSED:

1. THE USE OF AN ASTERISK TO INDICATE WORDS/PHRASES UNIQUE TO, OR WHOSE USE IS UNIQUE WITHIN, BLACK CULTURE AND/OR EXPERIENCE WILL COMFORT THE READER IN THEIR UNCERTAINTY AND CONFIRM THE NORMALITY OF THEIR SENSITIVITIES, WHILE TACITLY COMMENDING MORE INFORMED READERS. (E.G., CLAY, FLESH, FREEDOM)

2. THE USE OF ITALICS FOR NON-EUROPEAN NAMES, CONCEPTS, AND LANGUAGE WILL BOTH EMPHAISZE THEIR GLAMOR AND INSPIRE AN ACADEMIC IMPETUS TO NOTE THESE CONCEPTS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. (E.G., ORISHA, MAAFA, DIASPORA)

3. LIMIT HISTORIC AND CULTURAL REFERENCES TO FIGURES NOT COMMONLY DISCUSSED WITHIN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM YET OFTEN FEATURED AND/OR MENTIONED IN READILY CONSUMABLE AMERICAN PUBLIC RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A PRODUCTIVE BALANCE BETWEEN SELF-DOUBT AND SELF-ASSURANCE WITHIN THE READER. (E.G., ANGELA DAVIS, CLAUDETTE COLVIN, MEDGAR EVERS)

4. LIMIT COMPOSITIONS TO THEMES OF SLAVERY, OPPRESSION, OVERCOMING/SUCCUMBING TO ADVERSITY, JAZZ, AFRICA AND/OR HARLEM, AND CULTURAL/POLITICAL RESISTENCE IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE CONGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND ASSURE THE READER THEY ARE EXPERIENCING AUTHENTIC BLACK POETRY. (I.E., AVOID TOPICS SUCH AS PERSONAL HYGIENE, QUOTIDIAN DOMESTIC LIFE, OCCUPATIONAL ANGST, ETC..)

FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES WILL ENSURE THE STEADY GROWTH AND RETENTION OF WHITE AUDIENCES, MAINTAIN A COHESIVE NARRATIVE OF THE BLACK EXPERIENCE, AND BUILD A STRONG, LOYAL FOUNDATION OF ALLYSHIP FOR OUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

how long
should you
hold
another’s gaze
down a narrowing corridor or
a door open across
a sparsely square or bless
the victim of a multifaceted sneeze
before it becomes
awkward, leaving
you, each, flailing beneath
the weight
of compulsory debt?
or
is this a meager cross borne
by a meager Christ longing to
save the world
with his hands?

‘Nikki Haley…signed Israeli artillery shells with the inscription “Finish Them!” on a Memorial Day visit to Israel.’
The Guardian, 5/28/2024

Fewer things anger me
morely than a passive-
aggressive ‘Please advise’,
leaving me to name
and solve the obvious
because you can’t be
bothered. Here
let me bear that for you,
make your life
easier, simplify my pain
to bullet points and action
items. Even highlight
your part, your role,
your responsibility so that
you are doubly-helped by
me, the adult with lists checked,
bills paid, you, comforted.

And I always sign
my work, affix my name to
assume my portion, my
burden. Yet I also
know how this message will find
you. Anxious, ambivalent, a little
tired. Which is why I’d never presume
to sign my name to your wellness, even
hopefully. Because I know this
will always find you. Here or there.
Gaza or Israel. Email or
ordinance. My name will find
you, whether you are well.