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a literary journal published by the Black Earth Institute dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society

Lisa L. Moore


Clutch and Kink

Anger, its clutch and kink, the twist in the sole of the foot

that sends you bolt upright out of a sound sleep.

The attorney general of the great state of Texas has an opinion,

and his opinion is, may this never be forgotten,

that medical care for trans kids is child abuse.

What use is it to plan, to be there for your kids

in this rotten state whose state of mind is child abuse.

Yesterday at the pool Mich dangled their feet

in the water and encouraged their beautiful long-haired

sweet-voiced child to just jump in, it’s the only way.

The damage is already done, 500 families

under investigation within a day, 100 chakras

in the body of each of those children, nervous systems afire,

wired to be who they are, to love whom they love,

their scared parents busy raising them and loving them

and taking them to the pool but I have time to be angry.


In the Season of #SayHerName

In a revolution, heads must roll.

What can I give away?

What will be taken from me

that was never mine?

 

May the violence I was told was safety

explode beneath my feet.

This is a spell miscast,

mistaken, misheard.

 

In the kitchen

I paint layers of dough with butter,

fold pastry around spinach like a flag.

I surrender.

 

I juice limes and oranges,

dredge chicken breast in white white flour to fry.

Steam rice. Roast salmon. Cook greens.

These are among the meals

 

I cook for Black women,

for their children,

for the food kept out of their mouths

and put into mine before I knew it.

 

There is no word terrible enough.

I am going to keep telling this

as long as my head

stays on my shoulders.

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Lisa L. Moore is the author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes, as well as the poetry chapbook, 24 Hours of Men. Most recently, her poems have appeared in Waxing and Waning, Nimrod International Journal, and Hairstreak Butterfly Review. She lives in Austin, Texas.


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