Press play on the tape:
I want to hear the exact knell.
The reverb that explained my
swollen throat. My voice dusky,
clenched.
that’s the amphetamine.

Im a big bursting black butterfly. Big wings like a bird.
If not for the coffin, I wouldnt know
I was the butterfly.
Black, silver and white and lithe,
but now I’m a slinking cat.

Sly and dark
but shimmering so if you’re really perceptive
you can see her.
And she’s perfect.
I love this part of me more than ever: this dark part.
I want to love this part

What part is this? I hear his voice come in.

The arbiter.
I can hear the jaw snap
open, a click and then a shuffle
in velvet, my knuckles
gripping the inside blanket.
I remember dropping the straw
and pausing. this is where the chorus
began. alligator sidled up to me
with a mucky, mirthful whisper.

some of them
really had it
coming,
we say together.

“The Black Panther”