I spent the better part of yesterday
attempting to unmarry my spilled coffee
from the pale carpet beside my desk. 

A careless stretch of my arm 
wrote their union, yet elbow grease 
and soaps could not erase it.

The ink would not blot out,
would not annul nor offer divorce,
only separation, a small break.

            They sleep in different rooms now,
            the odor of chemicals lingering too
            much like the perfume of another.

I am squeezing every ounce of juice from the orange
so that, later, I can drink and know that is all there is to taste,

licking the salt from every almond so that
the bitterness stays with me and not my boys,

obsessing over drops and shapes of ink so that
someone else will know exactly what I had to say,

lying like a dead man in my bed
so that I can breathe tomorrow.

My body climbed a hill 

Your smile:
          as warm as a lover’s embrace
   Welcome as a delicate drop
         of life-giving water
Is my peaceful refuge in this moment

When my soul absconds away from its earthen tomb,
When my flesh decays, and my bones are laid bare, 
I will still be here 

I will be the echo of a shout of glee caught in the wind, 
I will be the four leaf clover nestled atop the bunch, ready for plucking,
I will be the double rainbow boldly coloring an angry gray sky, 
I will be the second soda can that falls from the vending machine, 

I will haunt you with little treasures and trinkets,
I will leave a wave of luck in my wake,
I will surrender my soul to stay a little while longer,
To force your muse to show up when you call to her

I will go beyond the ends of this earth, this realm, this reality, 
To ensure you never know a day devoid of love

And when you no longer need me,
I will succumb to the final forces pulling me apart,
Let entropy embody me 

Natasha,

all that you are
is a ball of hopes and dreams
in the form of one
created in God’s image
by two born sinners
something that we have been given
but that we barely deserve
daddy and mommy have been burdened and
tainted by this world
forgive us both for
all of the mistakes we will make along the way
even though one of us has done this
twice before
this time is different
this time
and place in which we live
still puts black girls last
still stunts their esteem while labeling them
fast
still assumes the very worst
still presumes they are the least worthy and deserving of love
still assumes their pain tolerance
is unlimited
and yet, both hands
behind her head I hold
much, much more
baby, all that you are is
the third person I would absolutely
either live or die for
someone so small
and delicately powerful
that pulls close to me to fall asleep
and instantly feel a different kind of love
that I didn’t know I needed
because you never miss
what you never, ever had

and all that I am
is your dad

Named after Gaza’s first & only fisherwoman
your bow points to resilience & courage
Yemaya, mother of fish & oceans
please protect the civilian vessel carrying
aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
steady the wind & tides, oh mother of
my people you protected the shores
of the motherland when slavers took them
Please protect the Madleen now.

Guide it’s starboard to the sacred & ancient 
homeland of Palestinians
As a genocide, a holocaust continues
under occupation
Please let them break the siege

Keffiyehs & Palestinians flags & sails
dance in your wind, Goddess, on
this vessel of true humanity
May it remind us of the bare minimum
responsibility of us as interdependent creatures
May we too have the determination of
those 12 who sail the Madleen
May we demand our leaders for their
Safe passage & join the resistance anyway
we can
May we love the world so much
that this is simply the right thing to do.