Black

 

/blak/ 

adjective 

 

1. of the very darkest color owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light. 

the opposite of white. like ink. like shadows. monsters. tar. dirt. berries. licorice. and 

ants. like earth buried underneath fingernails. like rat-tail combs. the jar of my sister’s 

hold and shine jam. like bonnet. like durag. like little torn panties. a broken belt. taylor 

port breath and the tattoo of some scripture he had. black like life beat niggas so bad 

they turned into blues. like blues metamorphized into bad nerves only spoken of if 

in drill and lips that have kissed too many woods. like city air. a concoction of engine

exhaust. blood. piss. i don’t give a fuck’s. and sewer fumes. like mother’s outliving their

babies. strange and rotten fruit. like funeral attire. like grief. and liquor bottles suckled

like babas filled with lukewarm breastmilk eight days out the week. like pecola’s eyes.

the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. like my scabbed wrists and the constellation of 

bullet holes scattered across his torso. our malnourished dreams. like what is legacy?

like what is longevity? like what actually belongs to me — the very darkest color, owing to

the absence of or complete absorption of life. the opposite of white.