Poetry Thursday, Black History Month Edition

Still Waiting
 ~Harryette Mullen

for Alison Saar

Please approach with care these figures in black.
Regard with care the weight they bear,
                         the scars that mark their hearts.
Do you think you can handle these bodies of graphite & coal dust?
This color might rub off. A drop of this red liquid
                         could stain your skin.
This black powder could blow you sky high.
No ordinary pigments blacken our blues.
Would you mop the floor with this bucket of blood?
Would you rinse your soiled laundry in this basin of tears?
Would you suckle hot milk from this cracked vessel?
Would you be baptized in this fountain of funky sweat?
Please approach with care
                         these bodies still waiting to be touched.
We invite you to come closer.
We permit you to touch & be touched.
We hope you will engage with care.

Copyright © 2019 Harryette Mullen. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 2, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets