“‘Pages 1–4,’ an excerpt from The Ferguson Report: An Erasure”
Copyright © 2021 by Nicole Sealey. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 7, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
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Legendary
You want me to say who I am and all of that?
—Pepper LaBeija
2017
Clue
i.
“Hands down, mustard
is the tastiest condiment,” coughed Professor Plum—
his full mouth feigning hunger for the greens-
only sandwiches Mrs. White
laid out for Mr. Boddy’s guests. Miss Scarlet
hadn’t time to peel off her peacoat
2017
Even the Gods
Even the gods misuse the unfolding blue. Even the gods misread the windflower’s nod toward sunlight as consent to consume. Still, you envy the horse that draws their chariot. Bone of their bone. The wilting mash of air alone keeps you from scaling Olympus with gifts of dead or dying things dangling from your mouth—your breath, like the sea, inching away. It is rumored gods grow where the blood of a hanged man drips. You insist on being this man. The gods abuse your grace.
2017