i am

I am a flowerpot sitting on the subway platform, dreaming of a southern sky I am the southern sky Bruised hues of blues and inner city, with an ocean front view A holy ghost tongue possessed between the pews, sleepless in the twilight A vision board invisible to eyesight Loose hips humming under summer porch lights I'm the djembe drum, rhythms spun between love drunk knees I'm a runaway river, a sawed off shotgun creeping through the leaves A kiss that quivers, a machete that bleeds I'm the bananas on Josephine's skirt, a brown liquor flirt The gardenia in Billy Holiday's hair, I'm a blues song in a cigarette's glare A beaded Zulu hat on Makeba's head, Bob Marley's loc, a natty dread I'm Marcus Garvey's last microphone Ancient lady of grace Nefertiti's royal throne, I'm a poem I'm a poem handwritten by La Lupe on the Malecón A grassroots meeting of orishas in the basement of a brownstone I'm a homegirl homegrown made of magic A mermaid of memories swimming through tragic times I'm the one that got away I'm the love, I'm the love I'm the love I never had A cipher of butterfly wings I'm a little girl who had big dreams, and prayers in my mother's purse I'm the color of Saturday, bouncing off the walls I drizzle in the wind like a sun shower shawl I'm the final hour before the moon rests I'm what a day looks like, honest and undressed I'm la cascarilla on the door, windows and vents A protector of realms, a protector of realms I'm a Bwiti shaman who ascends, I'm the mirror I am the mirror, I am the mirror, I'm the root and the end I am, I am I am not that I am I am and we are We, we, you and me I am, I am because of you We're here together, there's no me without you I am, I said there's no me without you We are, we, we, I, I, I I am, I am, because we are, we are I'm only possible because we are, you and me, we are Ooh, I am, you made me possible I am, ooh, I am I am, I am because we are