I used the dark skinned

emoji hand.

She says,

why are you so angry?

I replied,

...I was just waving.

It’s almost funny

how we assume

everything black

looks hostile.

15/30 Magic

My room is

a farm full of shadows.

Every morning,

the sun grows hands

and plucks every

strand of darkness

from the walls.

This is the only

sorcery I’ve ever

seen up close.

Today,

getting out of bed

is a magic trick

I’m still learning

to perform correctly.

14/30 Cigarette

You are a memory

flavored cigarette,

I know the dangers

of 2nd hand smoke

and I’ve never been

a big enough tray

to hold all your ashes.

13/30 400 Miles

We are beautiful

whenever we have

400 miles of

silence between us

and who we’ve become

stops interrupting

who we were.

12/30 Brother

When I call

you brother,

it means you have

at least 4 fists

during any fight

you can’t talk

yourself out of.

11/30 Hunted

When they say he’s black,

when they say he was unarmed,

when they say he was killed,

when they say the officer’s name,

when they show his face,

when the system

licks his hands clean,

when they say there is no crime

on his fingers,

you realize the phrase

“Life is short”

sounds a little different

when you’re being hunted.

10/30 Vacation

I imagine,
her smile is where
God goes on vacation
when our prayers
get overwhelming.

9/30 Grease Fire

Divorce is a stubborn grease fire;
a salivating mouth that still holds
an appetite after the kitchen
has been swallowed.

2 years ago, I watched this
greedy inferno steal the
wedding ring off

my mother’s finger.

To this day, there is still
a relentless shadow on her hand.
The teeth marks of a
30-year promise left on a stove
that we all thought was turned off.

8/30 Gravity

The first time
I heard my name
in your mouth,
the ground felt like
a language I haven't
spoken in years.
I forgot everything
I knew about gravity.

7/30 Flock

Dear self,

today, your laugh is a

wild flock of wind chimes.

It exists the way happiness should,

feral, loud,

and allergic to apology.

6/30 Brick

I'm learning that
everything doesn't
always come back
the way you send it.
Sometimes, love
is more brick and
less boomerang.

5/30 Privilege

Privilege
is the ability to forget
there are places
where poverty
is the only thing
that isn't struggling
to stay alive.

4/30 Today

Today,

your face is more

kitchen than hallway,

your eyes are

2 stubborn faucets.

and running is their

only hobby.

Today,

right now is a

multiple choice question.

A, B, C say “Have a breakdown”

D is “All of the above.”

Just do it.

When you find yourself

laying in a shatter

that could make a

windshield cringe,

don’t scrap

the serial numbers

off your masculinity.

No one is coming

to take it back.

It’s yours.

Just let go.

3/30 For J Dilla

Legend has it,

when J Dilla was admitted