BLACK BOYS AS FIREFLIES
We watch the blue
Lights in the trees
An August night with
the air trapped
between God’s palms
From the front porch
Ma and I can see my brother
Swarmed with 5 cars
Guns drawn
He’s trying to get home
To us
I don’t want him to fly into the night
My brother complies with every order
Making a point to not move too fast
Or talk with the grit we’re used to
We wait
As the blue lights disappear
Into the night once again
Conjured incantation of survival magic
Is this why everyone wants to cage them?
I see fewer of them every time I go outside
The sirens
Alert the neighborhood
In warning
Don’t be who you are
when we can see you
—from Rattle #74, Winter 2021
Rattle Poetry Prize Finalist
__________
Dayna Hodge Lynch: “Being raised in the arts, poetry was always there and I fell in love. When I was five, my momma performed ‘When Malindy Sings’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar. I wanted from that moment on to make people feel through the poetry I had to share. Poetry creates spaces to be heard. I write to explore and expand my own beliefs.”
