Shivering in the Summertime

some days my own womb shivers at the thought of / my black ass children being thrown / against any wall

Shivering in the Summertime

some days my own womb shivers at the thought of
my black ass children being thrown
against any wall
on top of any car hood
inside an open ground

& it feels so lonely
in every audience
in every cafe
in every bookstore
in every park
in this city
in this state
at every poetry reading
in this country

how i wish i could take in statistics & visuals as only sad collected data
wish my suck of teeth & saliva-hurt was not woven into my gut like natural flora (there)
how i am suddenly jealous of one’s imagination or this so-called learned empathy
what it might feel like to be able to shut off a cell phone
what it might feel like to only panic for myself
to only think of my own attack