a poet’s jealousy

Elizabeth Catlett and Mickalene Thomas are two artists, both women, both black. Their paintings speak to me. For me they link the struggles made and overcome by generations of black women.  It’s striking to me that the eyes of the women in each of the paintings shown here the subject’s eyes share the same weariness and expectation though the settings and timeline are radically different. It leads me to wonder if progress is really progressing. 

an instinctive tap

finally quiet i’d watch sunset outside my kitchen window. cold beer and pen posed over an open journal. incomplete poems littered every page.

fallen star

picking up strays
pastime reserved for canines
a loyalty offered but
not returned

too far gone

an incomplete seduces and
plays on already overly stretched emotions. 

promenade in silhouette

what would i do without these shadows to guide me, walk with me, talk with me, hold me in place? i have no idea but imagine it would be a space without grace.