under the spell of a mighty cough
it scratched her throat
until it bled sore raw red
and in one enormous blow of a cough
her Soul tumbled out of her mouth
covered in phlegm
dots of saliva
streaks of blood
the Soul looked at the Woman
the Woman looked at her Soul
they stood in silence in the dark
in the shadow of the bed boards
the Soul touched the Woman’s hands
rubbing the etches of lines in the skin
in a moment the Woman and the Soul were at the bank of a glorious river
where a tribe of young men robed in white swathes
were dancing with wild abandonment
red soiled feet
smooth pulsating bodies
and heads spinning in the wind
they moved like snakes in the silky earth
they threw themselves into the river
in adoration they swam like manatees
jumping up from the other side like blind mice
they ran like gazelles to the tree with the protruding womb where the child of the mamy water goddess was waiting to be loved
the men loved her in total worship
one by one
with wet kisses and slippery tongues scooping the amniotic fluid coating her metallic forehead
-sweat in her armpits –
a Worshiper kneeling at the tree smelled the Woman’s sweat
heard the Woman’s bones
looked back, saw the Woman standing next to her Soul
the Worshiper looked at the Woman
the Woman looked at the Worshiper
they stood in silence in the palm of time in the starry space of a minute
in a moment the Woman knew that the Worshiper was her Father
The Man She Loved
Climbing woman
Afrocentric Confessions 