Mama’s Lye

(Listen here for the soundtrack to this poem)

Where the wild things are 

Souls dripping a heavy love

Where the coily things are 

Coarse, reaching, evasive 

Wafting lye and buttery shea

Oil strolls down the stems diving into the palm of mothering

A factory for esteem 

Where do I end and they begin 

Inside borders of plastic, glass and metal we build skyscrapers 

Pressed and coiled in love’s reflection 

Dreams of wild beautiful liberation roam free 

___

cover image: “school of beauty, school of culture” (2012) kerry james marshall