Wild Beauty
Such a wild beauty
extracted from black ashes (echo)
A series of calculated crashes
I simply
call them romances.
I photograph you in my bed in the morning
I miss you and you never leave
Your scent remains, unbelievably
I pray to all the Gods
and my lies still don’t believe in me.
You dance inside the snow
Slush beneath your boots
We talk philosophy and hardcover books
Sometimes i find the heart you took and carry
It around, a handsome crook
A savior among a crown
of thorns and petals never worn
Of flowers dead and letters never sent
Did you see the way the summer wept
Did you feel my bones break
inside your hands
?
How fragile are the strong and mad
Who dare to wrap themselves in flags
Sewn by slaves and walked over graves (echo)
Jessica, you say, you must behave.
Yourself. I don’t know what to do with wealth
Cept spend it on a love affair or place bright flowers
In my hair.
Just tell me what color I should wear to a funeral
with no people there?
Bodies asleep deep in my chest
Kiss me, since we are all that’s left
In love, in fear, scared half to death
Humans aren’t so interesting my son insists
We have no wings. No power beyond our century
We are given less, and still we sing.
We dress the part
I keep the veil, and pawn the rings.
I want to steal Saul’s new hat and Dante’s bright green boots
My fashionable brothers.
You. Brooklyn bridge. I am hula hoop
Swirling dervish in a perfect suit
Oh my love, my memory swoons.
Such a wild beauty extracted from black ashes (echo)
A series of calculated crashes
I simply call them beautiful massive
Oh wait, I believe I wrote romances.
Protecting me from the brutality, the wounded savage
You, that’s me. Pointing fingers deliciously.
Baby, please hold onto me.
I only want love to hold me for ransom. I know he is.
They are all so handsome. Perhaps, a very good looking cancer.
I call your name, pray you don’t answer.
Such a wild
beauty.
Copyright © 2024 by jessica Care moore. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on February 23, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
“I wrote the poem, ‘Wild Beauty,’ in the middle of the night. I was balancing heartbreak, isolation, friendship, and a longing for true love. I’d been reading a lot of Sylvia Plath and experimenting with the sound of my poems. They changed during the pandemic. I changed. Every line is more intentional. The visual quality of the poem was inspired by Virgil Abloh’s gorgeous short film, Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light—solace and sadness. It was a difficult time for me, lots of loss, and still, I was searching for beauty, for love. I loved seeing my artist family, Yasiin Bey and Saul Williams, in the film, and I put them in the poem. I missed being connected to poets, to people. ‘Wild Beauty’ is one poem that led to my full experimental opera, the title inspired by the last book that Ntozake Shange signed for me before she passed away. The original wild beauty.”
—jessica Care moore
jessica Care moore
