Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman
— an ode to Jericho Brown’s Crossing—
The blue is deep
Growing
Baba’s mouth curved
Whistling songs his grandfather played
“You know I used to
Walk on water”
His eyes alight—
tales of the blues
people who stride
On ocean waves
Easy flowing
“Blackness isn’t skin deep”
He said cradling the red-faced baby
Born from unblessed ties
His hands
Grasp for surface
Face blue in want of air
The bubbles that rise speak their siren song
“You know I used to
Walk on water”
He says as his
Face disappears into
The black
Gun powder
Flows
Easy
Wars against racial poverty
“It’s my only chance” he whispers to his mother
Who signs his soul away
For a life far from shambled houses
The fate that led him to those who came before
Ancestors
Who spend the afterlife
remembering
When they could walk on water
***
Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman is a bi-racial Muslim writer, historian, poet, and artist. Her first book of poetry The Raven, The Bayou, & The Willow is forthcoming through FlowerSong Press Spring 2022. She is a Brooklyn Poets Fellow, a Rad(ical) Poetry Fellow, and a poet for the Houston Grand Opera & MFAH’s event “The Art of Intimacy.” Her work can be found in (Art) WORDPEACE and Mixed Magazine, (Fiction) Crack the Spine Literary Magazine, (Poetry) Boundless 2021: The Anthology of the Rio Grande River Valley International Poetry Festival, and others.