The emoticons inside my heart blink bizarre

lights and water
thunder and electricity
distance and motor

my Jamaica has upgraded
time is measured in megabytes

bit by bit
we have chomped at the past
one prime minister
one lesbian

and a white writer from a Black country

everything feels like it could be solved
under a tree
with the sway of the sea promising forgiveness

one week and a day
and the way tings running it look like we cover more ground
than me ever did hope for

Montego Bay
America
and fast as me can leave one country
here comes South Africa

hold close my sisters
pull strong at the cords that threaten to break

give me a month
and I will almost be there
in Jo'burg

in Soweto
in Durban

Cape Town look exactly like my Montego Bay
Rich White folks
and more and more poor Blacks kept lower case

I write the damn thing in Capital letters
race is one big raas lie

between my nose and my father's ankles
there is no difference between China and Africa

come to think of it
I nurse the shores of India with the same discarded wet breast

My country tis of thee
land of the free trade and market price for souls willing to work for nothing

fuck the fools that think they can win this war with theoretical discourse
bodies are exploding in places where there are no recording devices
people are bloating in waters that are not so clear

fear and fury
mix them
broadcast them on TV
sell them for monies that never really existed

and watch the market fall
call me when it's over

cover me with my responsibility
make me think I was only a victim

Jamaica and me dance by moonlight
only then will she open her lips when she kisses me
tongues with soft truths frighten her

she likes the hard push of things defined
bones
breath
bellies that deliver what they carry during gestation

such are the necessary conditions of bearing fruit
all else bleeds the slimy slick of a miscarriage of just things

clot me a solid palm
twist my arm and I will not bend

fuck this inconsistent water breaking before time

I intend to be fully formed
Jamaica
and America are healing into the same ill-stitched scar
tar and feather the past
and you will find the future burning

I never really cared about being nobody's wife
but you done raise the hairs on me pussy
on me neck
this is one heck of a fuck/dick/conundrum you drumming up

America
I work too hard
quarrel too much with my own land to make this pass unaddressed

California
I expected better of you

Am I going to die before you give me the right to see my woman as spouse
before she dies
after she is gone/is it not my duty to bury her

my children have as much claim to this kingdom of gluttony
as any man and woman who marry in a gambling house

sometimes I want to throw bottles like we do in Jamaica
block the roads and burn tires so the rich cannot move as easy on land

sometimes I want to tear down the federal red tape that lines
the path to my woman calling me legal

so between the Vincentian
and the American
The Jamaican and the Texan

we drank wine at the Ritz
and tried to make light of the Black man who implied I had stolen my own credit card
in me own country
I listened from afar and tried not to weep too much
 
O we of little faith
belief and blunder
trial and error

a fist in the air will always
carry me
carry me swiftly home

as I move I search for the landmarks
the pitchforks and the spades

never mind the landmines of Black/white/yellow pale soles

the world is my egg
and I am waiting to be born
in sin
in sorrow
in the wet wonder of my own experiences

I am whole
motherfucker
and I deserve my whole life/my whole being
I am alive and dancing
despite your spiteful prayers
despite your loud supplications to your narrow-minded Gods

the one I sometimes believe in
don't give an ass' hair
whether I marry your man or my woman

from Jamaica
the road looks long
but possible

my resolve remains tightened by your refusal
for too long
I have walked upright and breathing

this blow has reminded me
how connected these wars are

truth
and girl
woman and power

my crotch is back in the saddle
head down I am coming

walk careful motherfuckers
because I won't be alone when I come