“There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”
—James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”


She wants to be the one
who has no fear

of breaking
the fourth wall

without a hammer.
Let plaster collect beneath

her fingernails.
She would walk without

a dog. Fish
without water. Survive

without being even
a footnote

in six-point type. Lies
no one’s going to believe.

She would sacrifice
everything to deliver these

eyes

to all of you.
She would no longer deny

the withdrawal its cup
of air. She wants

to say cup of trembling
without conjuring

all that. There she goes—
staring again.


“And I’ve felt stars outside
shining in my veins
I met the big blue light
face to face”
—Gold Star, “Sonny’s Blues