assata
face
wiped clean of age
cheekbones you could fall off of
body that flows like water over worn rocks
dreadlocks splayed out and open like arms
soothing aloe and sage
i wish assata
many beautiful lovers
who smell
of earth
warmed by the sun
rather than despair that stinks
like urine-stained tenement halls
she has known love
on the run
as sweetly intense
and dangerously fragile
as life at the barrel of a gun
kiss twin scars right
under her breasts
where two
bullets
are still nestled --
sleeping infants
i wish her lovers
with mango pulp between their teeth
and grape-stained hands
that soak into her
a lover with shango in the hips
and the other orishas under the tongue
their love
fried platanos for breakfast
freshly cut coconut before bed
cat-eyes
that lean over her body
as hands move
reading signs etched in bark and cloth and flesh
praying dancing worshipping
the length of her arms
and the heft of her breast
cowry shells pressed hot
between two bodies
with ancient souls
someone
who lets her be
assata
a person
comrade mother neighbor
that strong limbed sista
who can sure move those thighs
at a house party
rather than a face on a wanted poster
public enemy number one
dead or alive
25,000 dollar bounty on her head
still
thunder storms
beat palm trees
and peel che guevarra posters
off the sides of cuban buildings
the screams of
shot
murdered
stolen
comrades
pull her dreads back
to lick her neck
tongues dripping defeat
until they deafen her
silence scars as well
wound left by over two years
of solitary confinement
of only hate-filled guards
day in and day out
days where she forgot what a kind word was
when she almost forgot how to speak
wounds of silence
silence can cut deeper than a machete
cane stalks bleeding
sugar blood
in prison
it was fugitive love
they were slaves
catching a taste of sweetness
bore fruit ripe and swollen
child of hope and wings
water and wind
of thundering bars and stinging darkness
let me be human for an hour
what we look like in loving eyes
let assata
always look
into loving eyes