Not Poetry Thursday, Black History Month POETRY!

[we are]
 ~Quenton Baker

we are
prayer in the long boat

                                                       a rhizomatic scream
                                                       surrounded by the dark dagger
                                                                                     of the ocean

                            scripture
                            in its entirety
                            is anticipation of the lilt
                                                           and yet


there is no word
for the rhythm
               we endure
               across this dirtless moment

                                                           antibird, we sing like birds
                                                           textured and untrained

             rugged the love
             that claps
in the chasm of our black palms

Copyright © 2019 Quenton Baker. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 28, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.