The Boys Are
by .CHISARAOKWU.
for Michael & Philando & Amadou & Tamar &
the boys are
frolicking again
daisies & marigolds
nesting in their sheen'd fros
amber’d glee gushing
from between soft lips
the boys are
dancing again
pockets filled with posies
nimble feet, legs leaping over
limber bodies traipsing
through fields of dandelions
& cornflowers
the boys are
their wrists adorned
with lavender
their eyelashes a flutter of grace
they curtsy & they bow
to each other & passersby
grin full-teeth, laugh
geysers of joy then tumble
into softest earth
I see them
knowing
this be their brief moment
to shine
the boys are
frolicking again
daisies & marigolds
nesting in their sheen'd fros
amber’d glee gushing
from between soft lips
the boys are
dancing again
pockets filled with posies
nimble feet, legs leaping over
limber bodies traipsing
through fields of dandelions
& cornflowers
the boys are
their wrists adorned
with lavender
their eyelashes a flutter of grace
they curtsy & they bow
to each other & passersby
grin full-teeth, laugh
geysers of joy then tumble
into softest earth
I see them
knowing
this be their brief moment
to shine
.CHISARAOKWU. (she/her) is an Igbo American poet-artist and retired physician. Her work has been supported with fellowships from Anaphora Arts, Brooklyn Poets, Cave Canem, MacDowell, and the Periplus Collective. Her writings appear in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Obsidian, Cider Press Review, The Washington Post, and more. Her anthro-poetic approach to poetry excavates spiritual, oral, and print archives of West Africa and its diaspora to reveal its rituals, traumas, and joy. She is also the founder of The JOY+WELL, a creative arts platform centering African-descended women's art and healing. Find her on Twitter @chisaraasomugha or IG @naijabella.