transplant fiber and flesh a thick goldlink bloodstained
reminder at your throat viscous sweetroot warped pulp
the sun seafoaming when they found us we were distorted
vinyl soaked hymnals out of every cavity delirium kingdom
crown rind and carcass pressed strange flavors laughter so hard
ache proper penance creatures of the wind wild as we are
we shift a little we speak our tongues our new toys winning
the war with the wait we a kneejerk late night ride my brother
wants to blow the fuse on all those ugly stars the butt of their jokes
by the time we hear their laughs we are already someone’s past
blossoming a new black
Contributor Notes
Brian Francis is a Cave Canem fellow from New York City. He has a BA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Poetry from NYU. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Cortland Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Vinyl Poetry, No, Dear, Pittsburgh Poetry Review. He lives and teaches Middle School in Harlem.
