the flame burns in the engine still
manhattan to western shore
’neath blackened soot and orange sky
the engine cries for more

we never forget, yet scarce recall
what history’s thrown on the pyre
still bound to the engine, desperate for fuel
—and everything’s cold to the fire

birds don’t defy gravity
they just know how
to play with
the weight of the world
without carrying it

as much as i know
i cannot pour
from an empty cup
i still find myself
waiting
on the mercy
of the rain

what a relief it is
to no longer fit
in the package
i was delivered in

there's no returning me now

child,

dance

dance like the first one to
hear the depths of her own
heartbeat and call it music
liberation through rhythm reclamation

dance till the walls shake
and the ceiling caves in
and the stars hold you steady
as you scream your grief into the
endless night

dance until the sun burns itself into
your glorious crown
the heat rising with our voices
in the dawn
we summoned

dance with the humid
sweat of lovers entwined in the
sacred business of fucking
and never forget we create pleasure
before we create life

dance so when the time comes
to finish the marathon
your legs are strong enough
to carry you that one final step
to freedom

you cling to the powerful
because you imagine one day
you will be them
and you can’t imagine living
any other way

but i can imagine
and so
i am already powerful

another black life extinguished
we try to get your attention
again

gunsmoke rises in the video
his runaway soul captured
lashed to plow an infinite feed
reaping advertisements
as if a thirty-day workout is enough
to transform my body into one
they won’t shoot

right and left are not
the only directions and
black and white are not
the only shades and
men and women are not
the only humans and
gay and straight are not
the only way to love them

computers may be
zeroes and ones
but life is non-binary

it’s so funny how
a nation founded on
slave labour
thinks the solution
to every goddamn thing
is “work harder”