(rings around and cycles
spins
unbound as nightfalls
escaping the karma of 28 years
letting fears and peers and tears and

other walls

drop

out of orbit)
:::
climbing out of clamshells and skin cells
finding old hells and letting them
soften,
then
repeating :
all the things i've never done
before

this relentless beating
of my memoirs
unimpeding
a chore
to undiscover
every lover
and black man who called himself brother
and minute
i thought i might never recover
from opening that
accidental door

three thousand other worlds and girl
no more
flipping the decisive switch from "why not?" to "what for?"
wanting nothing more than
the moment
where i breathe in and
forget
where i was before