When our consent was against our willAs in “It is said during slavery                Negro children were encumbrances                Often advertised in evening papers” as lagniappeThe petite largesse of luxury living                As in “Scipio baptized 1760 likely Negro boy                About a month old to be given away”Into the sea as in below the harbor                Near Edisto Island Igbos swung low                In the chariot of their calling to beCarried home and walked                On the bottom of water until handsome homed                As in the way we lay we mimed a body of waterSo died for the want of water                Bearing this plow and flower                This bit and scold’s bridle this mule-ingLeather this blood lost                This goodbye gone                But one gone ain’t always equivalent to anotherAs in all silences are not the same                As in all money ain’t good money                What silences are you responsible forWhat Jims have you jiggered                Into crows cajoled to sing in the pines                And pages of poetry magazines for a prizeAs in there is no succinct definition of exile                As in Black is the Black ain’t                As in everywhere the bucks went clatteringThe police bristled in the way                As in form forgets fugitivity is the original human                Form as in best put on your best barbarianAs in this gospel is large enough                That anything can be said about me and you                Your momma and your cousin tooRolling down the strip on Vogues                Waking up slamming Cadillac doors Outkast                And out of gas the empire smiles in its guillotineAnd Gucci loafers                As if to say ‘I practice the abundance of zero’                As in the world is always endingWhile someone is and ain’t                Being born as in motherfuck the weather                Come and join the band of wild negroesDancing the antelope and Holy Ghost                In Gadsden Gethsemane and Georgia                As in leave the angel to his centuriesOf death leave the police dog                Of our future in his heavy paws                Below the “Whites Only” signs and water fountainsDreaming of bucks                Between his teeth and a healthy 401K                Or Roth IRA to ease into old ageAnd the arthritis of chasing                Everywhere the bucks go clattering                As in the black and blur or the bright blur of blackAs in the negro must be still                Must still be moving which is the original                Cinematic motion of ghosts gardens and ex-slavesAs in address yourself only to freedom                To the seed the forest the swamp the night                The rain the river the rat the snakeThe panther the tree                Leaping in and out of its green breath