I began meeting people’s eyes, shaking their hands confidently, and introducing a person who I wasn’t exactly, all while smiling. - Saeed Jones

It's just too easy for a gay black man to drown amid the names of dead black gay men.

I’ve lined my throat
with the river bottom’s best
silt,

allowed my fingers to shrivel
and be taken for crawfish.

I’ve laced my eyelashes with algae.

I blink emerald.
I blink sea glass green.

I am whatever gleams
just under the surface.

Scoop at my sparkle. I’ll give you nothing
but disturbed reflection.

Bring your ear to the water
and I’ll sing you

down into my arms.

Let me show you how

to make your lungs
a home for minnows, how

to let them flicker

like silver

in and out of your mouth
like last words,

like air.

I will say for myself: America, I did the best I could with what I was given.