Solo

A solo full of quivering flesh flying 
like black crows from the bottom of nothing to 
the top of nowhere in a hall of suicide 
suicide hall of consciousness trying to 
suicide us in yellow flames of awareness order & 
whiteness 
in the name of god and leprosy 
wild pimps of desperation 
wet dogs & pigs 
frighten by the genius of pure black rage 
the demise of death and the suicide birth of Shango 
of Ogun iron magic and the mistress of moisture 
Corina  Corina 
love goddess arched in the nostrils of Damballa 
rising from the holes of Malcolm into the 
massacred sharpeville gods of flesh 
spirit nipples of unity 
the music 
protector of the delta 
collector of sweet juices and paradise 
sperm brother blood sister 
Oshun goddess of honey hot vinegar mangos and 
castor oil 
queen of fire at the crossroads eating in the 
belly of Legba 
the honk man honk 
god of sound god of war god of repetition 
kidney tears and liver drops 
the word 
holder of the past 
creator of the future 
and lover to the black birds building a 
new world supreme 
Welcome

Credit

From Firespitter: The Collected Poems of Jayne Cortez, edited by Margaret Busby (Nightboat Books, 2025). Copyright © 2025 by Jayne Cortez. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.