1
And I and I / must admit
that the sea in you
has sung / to the sea / in me
and I and I / must admit
that the sea in me
has fallen / in love
with the sea in you
because you have made something
out of the sea
that nearly swallowed you
And this poem
This poem
This poem / I give / to you.
This poem is a song / I sing / I sing / to you
from the bottom
of the sea
in my belly
This poem
This poem
This poem / is a song / about FEELINGS
about the Bone of feeling
about the Stone of feeling
And the Feather of feeling
2
This poem
This poem
This poem / is /
a death / chant
and a grave / stone
and a prayer for the dead:
for young Jackie Robinson
a moving Blk / warrior who walked
among us
with a side / stride — and heavy heels
moving moving moving
thru the blood and mud and shit of Vietnam
moving moving moving
thru the blood and mud and dope of America
for Jackie / who was /
a song
and a stone
and a Feather of feeling
now dead
and / gone / in this month of love
This poem
This poem / is / a sliver feather
and the sun-god / glinting / green hills breathing
river flowing — for Sheryl and David — and
their first / kiss by the river — for Mark and Sue
and a Sunday walk on her grand / father’s farm
for Sammy and Marion — love rhythms
for Michael and Jean — love rhythms
love / rhythms — love rhythms — and LIFE
3
This poem
This poem
This poem
This poem / is / for ME — for me
and the days / that lay / in the back of my mind
when the sea / rose up /
to swallow me
and the streets I walked
were lonely streets
were stone / cold streets
This poem
This poem / is /
for me / and the nights
when I
wrapped my feelings
in a sheet of ice
and stared
at the stars
thru iron bars
and cried
in the middle of my eyes
This poem
This poem
This poem / is / for me
and my woman
and the yesterdays
when she opened
to me like a flower
but I fell on her
like a stone
I fell on her like a stone
4
And now — in my 40th year
I have come here
to this House of Feelings
to this Singing Sea
and I and I / must admit
that the sea in me
has fallen / in love
with the sea in you
because the sea
that now sings / in you
is the same sea
that nearly swallowed you–
and me too.
Featured image created in collaboration with Tylis (Perplexity AI), visualising an excerpt from ‘Belly Song’ by Etheridge Knight as a digital seascape of a Black man and woman whose oceans meet in love, healing, and transformation.
