APRIL 21, THE LIBERATION OF CAPTAINS (for Prince and Nina Simone)

y’all jumped ship

the same day thirteen years

apart leaving

us here in

choppy and shark-filled

current

our anchors are plastic

our vessel cheap tree and rag

and these days our icebergs

are in the palms

of our hands

but thinking of y’all

yes thinking of y’all

makes me feel like i could

strip naked and howl

a purple goddamn

to these slaves that call

themselves shipmates

scared of both

water and wood