Joseph Victor Milford- Two Poems

for Kiana

the grace you have shown me
separates me
from all of my life's
capsizes

i lift up through the tough
chrysalis to find things
even tougher
to tear through

still you make scrambled
eggs dry
like my grandma

you nuzzle into me
and i delve into you
and we are

a wooly mammoth
in the Atlantic

the grace you have taken from me
at times
was never mine
or so you laugh

i fall into the pit
to be spit
up like
a flower to
droop into
its own
birth

it's the best kiss, the one
you are terrified
you will never have

again

you know the one i am talking about
and you never had it again

or you did once more

and held to it like
the handle
on the crashing plane

still thinking
you could live
through
the crash

post-colonial sweatshop shirt

to understand yourself
as a cultural being
you must acknowledge
all of the slavery and violence
which lead to your ability
to button
your buttons
today