Nina Simone sang “[POC] is the color of my true love’s hair”
& they say [POC] don’t crack
& let us bless gumbo
quimbombó & [POC]-eyed peas
& [POC] weddings & broom jumps & Danez Smith
wrote “& even the [POC] guy’s profile reads ‘sorry,
no [POC] guys’” & to flirt men have asked if I’m
[POC] where it counts
& hey remember outcry over [POC] Rue
in The Hunger Games
[POC] Hermione [POC] James Bond
[POC] Spiderman & Mary Jane &
when cops kneel on [POC] necks
the autopsies that come next can lie
can blame underlying conditions
& [POC] Lives Matter to the public
for about a week at a time
& somehow bulbs of [POC] joy bloom ceaselessly from dirt
terror & there’s at least 26 new ways of looking
at a [POC]bird by now with all this high tech
so chew on that, Wally Stevens,
& did you know the lab-made Vanta[POC]—one of the darkest
known substances—absorbs 99.96% of natural light?
Ideal Burial Checklist: coffin that color,
[POC] orchids all over, a few berry seeds plopped
upon my plot, some of the rasp variety, most [POC],
& let there be medleys of essential [POC] tunes for y’all
to throw ass to at the after-party, & please, change
out those [POC] funeral rags into something fun,
something that swans as you sway
& please, pour dem drinks high
but not so high you [POC] out
& pretty please, have fun,
remember that in all my [POC]-ass life,
I had a good time,
really, I enjoyed myself.