Mariama Pouye
Elijah McClain said i’m just different that’s all i’m so sorry
And when I read those words my heart split open and
Three thousand pomegranate seeds poured out,
A puking parade of red rubies.
forgive me. all I was trying to do was become better.
After the rubies came wells,
Empty canals, ridges: hollows for them to roll across my skin;
A droughted Venice just for my pomegranate seeds.
i will do anything. sacrifice my identity. i’ll do it.
Next the need for rope,
To catch him and tether him back down—
A rope capable of sunbeam retrieval.
Elijah asked for forgiveness six times as he was killed
And in doing so taught me that I am capable of immense violence,
That I can scorch this world and scream until the throat of every breathing man bleeds,
Until all that remains are pomegranate seeds and the sun.
Mariama Pouye is a writer from Jacksonville, Florida. She believes that pure happiness is melted brie on an apple.
