2 Notes
Harlem Drumbeat, Revisited
Summer nights sweat streak sundresses:
The heaviness of a line, its drumbeat.
Shoulder weight, weight of a hand at your back,
Weight of the hours. Fireworks snap, tonight’s
Angry voices. Strike your match, ready wait.
Verses: wary and smooth; versus: rough hook,
Color it red. What makes it, what makes it worth.
Strain at the edges, imprint of the faces.
Your window over the alley: still in the deep hours
The machines breathe ragged, the screens on.
