we drove on through
the blue seal of morning as the turbines
turned and winked out their hearts

and then her eyes fully opened — blazed through with strands of mud

You said it was okay to blame
what goes wrong on the planet

It recommended
soft porn, as gentle prodding and petting parent
to parent might calm and soothe the kid.

If America is Babylon / and you are an exile / newly arrived among pagans / Catholic, ‘Ngolan, Black, woman / you already know how to pray

You’ve spent a lifetime training
for this.

my father holds
his favorite drink

I have an axe
with hearts gashed

My grandmother asked, “Does it feel like being widowed?”

how does an afternoon turn
on its axis?

Even as the sun warms the concrete
the long nights’ sensual cold lingers in my clothes.

I like to think I’m also sprung,
released from the furnace knocks,
done with the heavy meat stews
and salty soups.

He has stories that I am not in
anymore. It’s healed this way.

Long after midnight, we’re talking about our first time

You let the yellow glow
from eye sockets. The building up the street
is burning faster and faster.

I have observed, the theorist
I am