Yusef Komunyakaa

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I ate mythology & dreamt'- Yusef Komunyakaa (Blackberries)

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Go & tell your drinking buddies& psychoanalyst your neighborhas risen from the ashes. I wonderif I should tell you about the love lettershidden behind the doorjamb. This housestill stands among my lavender flowers.Tell your inheritors to think of mewhen they smile up at the sky

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We were born between Oh Yeah& Goddammit. I knew lifeBegan where I stood in the dark,Looking out into the light,& that sometimes I could seeEverything through nothing.The backyard trees breathedLike a man running from himselfAs my brothers backed awayFrom the screendoor

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I'm turning you into a girlchasing a butterfly, a she-wolfon a hilltop, & then back into a woman

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A goddess of dawnscooted under a zing of barbed wireto witness your birth