alternate names for black boys

I trust you had a powerful weekend. We had the Juneteenth of an Uprising. A New Moon. And eclipse. And the Solstice.

Our ancestors paid close attention to these cosmological events. It was a way to make sense of what is happening here on earth. There is wisdom in your body. Animal wisdom. Ancestral wisdom. It’s right there. Always there. Tune in. Place close attention. 

Continuing to honor what is unfolding in our nation. Continuing to honor black people. Honoring black masculinity. I share this poem by Danez Smith:  

alternate names for black boys

BY DANEZ SMITH

1.   smoke above the burning bush

2.   archnemesis of summer night

3.   first son of soil

4.   coal awaiting spark & wind

5.   guilty until proven dead

6.   oil heavy starlight

7.   monster until proven ghost

8.   gone

9.   phoenix who forgets to un-ash

10. going, going, gone

11. gods of shovels & black veils

12. what once passed for kindling

13. fireworks at dawn

14. brilliant, shadow hued coral

15. (I thought to leave this blank

    but who am I to name us nothing?)

16. prayer who learned to bite & sprint

17. a mother’s joy & clutched breath

Everything is changing brothers. And it is good to be in community. To keep working on this project of conscious masculinity. It includes embodied wisdom. And mythopoetic understanding.