next lifetime

i died this morning and couldn’t wake up. tossing and turning, gasping for life, i opened my eyes and found myself breathless, walking with her on the moon. among the angels. i moved to speak and her fingers rose to my mouth to hush my lips. she drifted closer to me and whispered in my ear a secret chant. she told me to remember the melody, for it was a magic spell to cast down babylon.

the hand in my pants

the water bearer

whose hand holds not water.

it don’t cup right.

rigid and arthritic,

it leaks like levies.

numb to the trickle,

that drips upon skin,

it’s skinny to the bone.

the water don’t hold.

the tears don’t close.

open to the cold,

frostbitten in the blow

that rips off the tide,

it shoved down inside

the pockets of my pants,

pressed against my pride.

~KLKN

hold back the word

Sometimes when my head is pulsating and it feels like I’m finna swoon, when my mouth is dried up ‘cause all the ears that are supposed to hear my voice are deaf, when I feel like the only souls that will feel me are those who are yet unborn, that’s when an apparition mounts my heart and all I can do is write. Only then can I release this emotional constipation and let my tears soak the page.