the word faggot
shoots off
my brother’s
tongue
more often
than good morning
he doesn’t think it
offends me
he doesn’t believe
the barrel of his
voice could hold
the bullet that
would call me
cadaver
i say,
when a stranger
calls
me a black
dyke
nigga
bitch
i don’t know
where to insert
comma
or
know which name
does the least
damage
because
that’s the one i’ll
turn
into compliment
or think it a
blessing
they left me alive
enough
to hear it
i must be lucky
men offer to let
me suck their
dicks more often
than straight
women
an honor
some think their
wives
too clean for
they offer to save
me
make me walk
crooked
fuck me straight
be the daddy
i ain’t have
ain’t want
gon’ show me
what I been
missing
what I’m supposed
to do
when a stranger
wish me dead?
his heart
beats in his throat
and he says
i’ll rip out the
tongue
of any
motherfucker that
would
i swallow and say,
start with yours