local_library also, for the wastelands

by Shakeema Smalls

Published in Issue No. 244 ~ September, 2017

also, for the wastelands

 

shepherds of the ghetto

dirty-navel interrogation

fingers learning to scour

hearts balancing on gritty 

stoops. another sunshine

we count these, & all 

better days against the 

countertop. doom running

before the afternoon cutoff

izzy rubbing his cancer

daddy, with his habit

& brighter things. a dusty

box of candy cigarettes. an

ocean. an unsettled island

of us, floating out. 

 

 

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My work has been published in a variety of outlets including Tidal Basin Review, The Fem, Blackberry: A Magazine, Kweli Journal, The Feminist Wire, Sugared Water, Muse A/Journal, and Vinyl Poetry and Prose, among others.