Gospel
wind in fire
candles on altar
walk through temple sing
stir fingers through holy water
pull dampness through hair
over temples loosen
plump curls dance with holy
raindrops breathe
dance with fire
sway to altar candles
one two three
hundred prayers
for the living
for the dead
for those yet waiting
to enter
how many brides
have toed this path
pinching shoes to
keep them upright
father arm propulsion
through cool ceramic echoes
I slip on rose petals
I dance with fire
I sing high on holy water
I anoint with sensuous oils
make me a holy chamber
and I’ll make you whole
dance with water
dance with fire
dance with lemonscent
as it wafts from pews
how many bodies have left this way
carried off with a last hipshake
on the shoulders of friends, nephews,
officiants trembling with the weight
of their task.
dance with the pulpits
holding the beat of the fist
dance with the sun
streaming through colored glass
dance with earthen walls
dance with iron lung skies
I’ll stretch my arms heavenward
push through painted ceilings
harden fingertips to punch through
wood and spackle and frothy insulation
I’ll stretch a hole wide as a thousand stars
so when children shift their eyes
heavenward in distraction
they may still receive the word
the word says
we are holy
the stars will agree
that what we are
is holier yet
than the whole
of the world
from Gospel: poems. RedBone Press. 2009. Used with permission of the author.
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SAMIYA BASHIR is the author of Gospel, a 2009 Lambda Literary Award finalist, and Where the Apple Falls, a Poetry Foundation bestseller and finalist for the 2005 Lambda Literary Award. She is also editor of Black Women’s Erotica 2 and co-editor, with Tony Medina and Quraysh Ali Lansana, of Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art. Her poetry, stories, articles, essays and editorial work have been featured in numerous publications including: Ms. Magazine, Essence, Curve, ColorLines, Callaloo, Obsidian III, Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint, and more. Bashir has been honored with awards, fellowships, grants, and residencies from a variety of organizations, is an alumni fellow with Cave Canem and a founding organizer of Fire & Ink, a writer’s festival for LGBT writers of African descent.
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Celebration Series is a bimonthly CAYENNE feature that aims to magnify and spotlight work by queer poets of color. To learn more, click here.
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