“We the magnolia tree"
An Ekphrastic poem after Beyoncé’s Lemonade
We the exhale
Our confidence
We the pot of greens
Our hands
We the floor
We every grief
We the wait
Our mouths
We the magnolia tree
the submerge
a ripe orange
the salt pork
clean the grit
the sink
fed to us
the wait
fill with leftovers
its sweet
the silence
a vitamin cure
the liquor
give and give the portions
the kitchen’s back door
at the breakfast table
the push on in spite of
sour with thanks
its shade
We sit in a bed of no name flowers
Our thorned feet
Our callused hands
Our voices lifted
planted like roses
intertwined in the moon’s shadow
a blossoming song
