photo by Alex Lear
Open Skies
/for Ua/
even though every body has a nut to crack
some of us are exceptional souls, indigo-shaded fragrant
diaphanous flower petals rather than violet machete fingers
what carnivorous capitalists call weakness is instead the quiet
honor of our refusal to carry their shit inside our smiles
for some of us rejection of the status quo is not a choice
but a necessity by any means necessary
even if we have to flow out the window leaving pre-measured
medication untouched as our silent bodies stay behind
swaying in front of a perplexed battery of physicians
vainly trying to ascertain where to do escaped black minds go
they'll never know the healthy stealth of an ex-slave
fleeing hell on earth by hurling her spirit straight
into the welcoming blue warmness of open skies
—kalamu ya salaam