Vampires in the Midst

Dawn makes us watch exhausted
from rain and reconciliation
we see each other
opaque and tacit
sharing spaces

The bed becomes a bath
a place to drown
drench
drain each other
of the secrets

that we lie within
deny
cringe at their burning light
seek shelter
in each other

gingerly grazing upon necks
tasting eternity
between our teeth
desperate for incisor bites
to deliver us

from ourselves
suckle on this life
the irony of our existence
until resurrection isn't a goal
or an icon

We are that which we become
timeless
suspended beyond death
not a duality
just doing

My Middle name Florence

Hurricanes and hurraches
are poor planning
We thought we'd prepared well
parked close enough
packed light

Winds don't whisper
they wail
whipping water from the sky
and thrashing it
sideways

We run
gathering wet memories
and laughter
up the corner
up the steps

and watch from the balcony
how pretty panic can be
when it's all shades of melanin
that vibrancy
running from the storm

"You can call me Flo"
I am fierce
dripping and sharp
I swell. I flood
and won't apologize

for the weights of my grandmother
her whole first name
separates what my mother saw in me
and my father's crest
I move with all 3

I understand balance
between the devil and the dance
I am the movement
the mourning
Miss me with anything less

I chose what I am called
Even Charisma listens
9 times outta ten
and smiles
in agreement

Mankind is an Oxymoron

We are parked
manicured green and curated just so
we don't hear the rumbling bones
beneath us
weep

exasperated with erasure
poured out in libations
our ancestors are the door
not the gatekeepers
or the opening ceremony

But my protest is swallowed
and spit out of six foot speakers
diluted like overpriced lemonade
that we have to drink
because water

is lead out of fountains
contaminated
through century old construction
never meant to water
these souls

these 2 sets of lips
gingerly declaring a kiss
in public
is the blackest thing
we can do

Gawdis here
with Black Charisma
we are all that
oxymoron and
mankind