imagine me as i am

fiercely beautiful

a black and white

negative growing in

the shade of contempt

like a desert rose

fragrant in the funk of it

unbowed refusing to be

broken being everything

else and then some more

because tallness is required here

i got wings

flying over the pits snares traps sticky shit

don’t stick i write me clearly black lines

on a white page a force

you can’t never did never will own

beautifully unruly

a poor subject for oppression

you prayed to me

as you preyed on me

Hottentot

i will out live it

i will outlive you

fed by dreams of slaves

you did not free

i will live

in the leanest prayer of tomorrow

fed well on determination

i am

the alpha hailing omega

a breathtaking contradiction

only going forward

connected to the ocean

like it birthed me

it did

whispers to me tales

of glory shadowed by infamy

Norf Merikan Afrikan

Olukun holds my keys

you can’t touch me

you only know the myth you created of me

imagine me as i am

i burn like fire

you will remember we

crossed paths i am the taste

in your mouth that reminds you

of who you are

where you walked

who you pushed into the darkness

of inhumanity

you don’t define me

you can not

i am a song you can’t sing

a dance you have no steps for

a sublime verse in a language

you don’t speak

imagine me as i am

the black and white of

where we are

understand clearly

the ocean has a memory

the dust has a memory

i have a memory

remember that when

you imagine me