[we are]

we are

prayer in the long boat

                                               a rhizomatic scream

                                               surrounded by the dark dagger

                                                                        of the ocean

                         scripture

                         in its entirety

                         is anticipation of the lilt

                                                   and yet



there is no word

for the rhythm

             we endure

             across this dirtless moment

                                                    antibird, we sing like birds

                                                    textured and untrained

             rugged the love

             that claps

in the chasm of our black palms

Copyright © 2019 by Quenton Baker. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 28, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.