I.
amputations are motherwork
birthing and severing
surviving by loss
losing the feeding thing
that lessens
it is not written
that wounded ones
of same womb
must play
unto death
into eternity
tied by
the inescapability
of relation
even mothers
cut cords
to keep us from killing them
and save us from death
II.
are sibling sentences
mandates to serve
in unnatural ways
despite unnatural things
given life in the night
why is love not the natural thing
in the way removed arm
becomes invisible itch
i dream of sibling lost
excised for crime
against my imagination
of self
III.
i was born under a blanket
made of the ancestor secrets
that grab us by the throat
and tell us to keep quiet
the violence of untold touch
i am embroidered
with worthless family jewels
in the shape of hands
in private places
that should never feel fingers
in the aftermath
of brotherly love
i am fruit of the dragon
born to breathe fire
for brotherhood
i run together like language
in the absence of punctuation
a whole of confusion
and worthless words
i am mother without womb
severing umbilical opening
the doorway of demons
refusing to turn skin-tie
to hangman tool
i will not dangle for you
i do not die for love
IV.
in the night
i am suffocated
by dreams
of re-membering
piecing together again
the whole thing
we are not a whole thing
i make you motherwork
pushed from my flesh
i collapse my lungs
make myself flat
withhold the last breath
save it for myself
and hope you die
Blues In Black 