a. (1997)
Arrival at twenty-one
cocks his tam sideways.
Deep-freeze nod
to alley deacons & white folks.
Terry Derell
strums corduroy-gray
acoustics.
Chlora is his tiramisu—
he’s indiscriminate
pot & vodka-cranberry wise.
b. (2012)
Maria Inés
backhanded the hurt—
hyena-laughing.
Common shoulders
glittered for night-prerequisites.
Eye sockets
house sass-glass.
Her Louboutin’s are hers.
Jazz is novel nectar.
Moon-swayed—she’s absosucculent.
c. (1974)
Snatched from
tight-eyed scribble,
water boils,
china shards scrape,
white kittens meow.
What night is this, Rodney?
Amid jumbo pencils,
red satchel & Crayola,
candy corn & wide-lined,
pee-wet paper,
my mama’s teeth
sweep the linoleum.
from Sweetgum & LightningFind more by Rodney Terich Leonard at the library
Copyright © 2021 Rodney Terich Leonard
Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Four Way Books.