Nirris Nagendrarajah | Contributor
Featured image courtesy of Josef Taróci (Flickr)
) Brandi Bledsoe
what did it smell like inside the plastic bag that covered your head
while your body was laid waste in a driveway
did you smell the orange peels and onion skins?
Because it smelled like your mother’s kitchen. (
) Jazz Alford
did you have a chance to take a shower in the hotel room
where you were shot?
But before, did you take the tiny shampoos and soaps and what nots?
Because the housekeeper that removed your purple carpet didn’t find any,
“What a smart girl,” she thought. (
) Crystal Edmonds
as your blood pooled onto the sidewalk
did it touch the cracks that saved your mother’s back
or did you just feel a breeze at the back of your head
like that time on the beach, the sunset made the sky deep red. (
) T.T. Saffore
when I was a kid we would have to line up to use the swings at the park
and when it was my turn I would swing as high as possible
and then tilt my head back and expose my neck to the sky
his own problems so deep he left a sign in your neck for everyone to see. (
) Rae’Lynn Thomas
in the place you call home
where you must’ve felt so secure
for your mom’s boyfriend to decide
the end to the story
but I’m not interested in endings, so start from the beginning. (
) Erykah Tijerina
foul play
sounds like
coded words
to protect
and deserved. (
) Goddess Diamond
when they arrived at the scene
they saw that you tried to turn on the air conditioning
because the bones in your hand rested on the handle
a golden ring
shining. (
) Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum
your dog misses you
and thinks about that day you went on a walk
and why you’re not here
to scratch him
and yell at him when he farts. (
) Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson
in Almodovar’s Talk to Her
there is a scene where a woman does Pina Bausch
that you thought about
as you made your last moves. (
) Kayden Clarke
you were too young to have watched
Boys Don’t Cry
but what was in your YouTube history
what did you search after you posted your videos?
What was your go-to, or did you just go back and watch yourself again, and again?
In this way, you are not dead, because you are in front of me moving. (
) Maya Young
like Janet Leigh in Psycho your death was cinematic
stabbed and scream
except in public for everyone to see
no shower curtain to cover you, no drain to pour your blood
instead you stain the streets for good
but what’s the name of your Norman Bates hiding from the frame?
What’s his deal anyway? (
) Monica Loera
leave us behind
without kissing us
good-bye
but there were other things on your mind. (
) Skye Mockabee ( ) Dee Whingham ( ) Deeniquia Dodds ( ) Amos Beede ( ) Mercedes Successful ( ) Tyreece Walker ( ) Keyonna Blakeney ( ) Shante Isaac ( ) Demarkis Stansberry ( ) Veronica Banks Cano ( ) Jasmine Sierra ( ) __________ ( )
In life, you were parenthetical,
You interrupted the sentence.
In death, you become the subject
You are the sentence.
That white ESPYS dress can burn and from it the 24 women will rise to the heavens.
