1 in 2

away to the red lake
to dance in the red waves

oh sugar boys, my
choir candy, wade slow

& forever, dip a toe
& red water will crawl

toward your neck
come on, dive in

or be swallowed
the water wants

to meet you, why
not on such a pretty

night, with the shore’s
burgundy foam

teething towards your feet
like wine out for blood

& the sky above
dark as a nigga

who once told you
you cute & don’t worry

***

he, who smelled coffee sweet & cigarillo blue,
entered me, who knew better but _____________.
he, who in his wake left shredded tarot,
threw back his head & spewed light from every opening
& in me, light fell on a door, & in the door
a me i didn’t know & knew, the now me
whose blood blacks & curls back like paper
near an open flame. I walked towards the door
as I walked away from the door. when i met me
in the middle, nothing grand happened.
a rumor made its way around my body.

***

if you trace the word diagnosis back enough
you’ll find destiny

trace it forwards, find diaspora

is there a word for the feeling prey
feel when the teeth finally sink
after years of waiting?

plague & genocide meet on a line in my body

i cut open my leg & it screamed