atmospheric pressure
birds don’t defy gravity
they just know how
to play with
the weight of the world
without carrying it
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
i feel like we've been trapped inside
while the world we were told to expect
is stripped away
brick by brick
perhaps those bricks
were what had us trapped
in the first place
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”
so many times
i lie awake
waiting for tomorrow
to be a brighter day
and so many times
i wait in vain
cause tomorrow done came through yesterday
while i was waiting