A voice echoes through my head--
My name, sounding
Over and over again.

A thought flits across my mind,
And a smile alights on my face.

"Maybe it's my soulmate,"
My heart thinks.

My head shakes,
Dispelling the romantic fantasy.

Because hearts don't think,
And a stranger's voice can't speak in my head.

he is having a adventure of a lifetime with every move he conjures
he is the soweto dancer
white supremacy on his throat and *****
he still moves
he's kept that secret space inside secret
no lynching of a thousand black bodies can untie his bond to his gas
he is of this earth
for he moves so seamlessly with it
he is the black dancer that has dazzled
time and time again
he is from brooklyn
ouaga
bahia
soweto
kingston
Marseilles
abuja
he is the black dancer
motion his breath
expression his concubine
juju his solemate
he is bojangles storyboard p pantsula
pantsula
pantsula

I have a very special spotted rock,
It’s oval shaped and smooth all around,
My solemate found it on Elba at a home on a bluff,
She gave it to me with a smile to keep safe,
I carefully carried it across the Atlantic in my pocket,
It was so precious I never let it out of my sight,
Then one day I lost it during a pandemic,
When it slipped through a hole in my pocket,
The special spotted rock was no where to be found,
I looked for it relentlessly but it was lost for eternity,
The love of my life then slowly retreated away,
The twinkle in her brown eyes when she saw me faded,
She no longer radiated love or affection in my direction,
She has since drifted far away, into another man’s arms.