& When They Come For Me (Reprise)
- & When They Come For Me (Reprise)
Magnolia mothers, owl eyed girls,fellow forget-me-nots, let's gather our God-gowns
down the golden gallows. We made it to the foreverfantasy where I can't remember what war we were
weaponing to win: For some secretary sex? Some back-handedbrother? Some sons & uncles & Grandfatherswho forget we have a heart-dream? An ox-blood song? A maiden name
Call this Heaven,if all you ever wanted to be was freshwind-air. Sisters, call this Hell, rest,
if you never joy-stick'd summer with a honeyfluttering in the wind, with the fish [End Page 96] frying in the heat. Let's return to the blue inverted ocean,saying I was raised from Bethlehem & Bethel, as Bitch & Brimstone
wings. I hope I become Fat-hipped women, childedlike my cousins in some decade. Here if not
before. Asking What violence brought ushere?Back to another beginning?
Red is a grave I'm not waiting to see the otherside of,not willing to weapon my peace lilies for.
Only thing I remember, now, wasonce I was a heat, a song, a sis who laughed,
a shoreline from niggas with sunin their mane. There aren't enough wet shoulders
in the galaxy to explain how much I lovedevery day I tried to be possible, & was.
Glory, Glory! Have you ever said home & stayedthere for centuries? Have you ever said peace
& know a country isn't coming with it? [End Page 97]
golden (they/them) is a Black gender-non-conforming trans photographer, poet, and community organizer. They are the author of A Dead Name That Learned How to Live and the photographic series On Learning How to Live, documenting Black trans life at the intersections of surviving and living in the United States. Their hybrid poetry and photography book, reprise, will be released in 2025.
