What We Be

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What We Be

by Camisha L. Jones
Southern Cultures, Vol. 29, No. 1: Disability

“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

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