Romans 12:1

I will begin with the body,

In the year of our Lord,

Porous and wet, love-wracked

And willing: in my 23rd year,

A certain obsession overtook

My body, or I should say,

I let a man touch me until I bled,

Until my blood met his hunger

And so was changed, was given

A new name

As is the practice among my people

Who are several and whole, holy

And acceptable. On the whole

Hurt by me, they will not call me

Brother. Hear me coming,

And they cross their legs. As men

Are wont to hate women,

As women are taught to hate

Themselves, they hate a woman

They smell in me, every muscle

Of her body clenched

In fits beneath men

Heavy as heaven—my body,

Dear dying sacrifice, desirous

As I will be, black as I am.