Black Woman with Chicken

after Carrie Mae Weems

High in my

stomach there

you are, phantom

of a flat sea. I never

should have grown

up before

your eyes. I’m the

sparkle on

glass lips.

Type A

in the kitchen wanting

more. Blurry

princess, self-narrating.

For my

name I took

the shells

offered & spit

out your

bones with

wondrous glut.

I have more

eyelids than anyone

I know. No rest

for the sweet

& lowdowns

but me when I’m

salted &

nightcapped I

arrive at the steps

of an eerie

castle, black

& white

a church

have I been

here before have I

been me before &

turned my

back to myself.

Long black dress.

I’m what you want.

If you don’t

like what you

see, remember

I’m only

a figment, screen

of hunger & pining.

A spook

& you

feast your eyes