A Whole Thing

by Vincente Perez, PhD

A thing stirs, walks its own beat without a beat dictating the rhythm. The uniform does not exist

here. The uniform used to be a deep lull. A conceit, a repeat, a need but now a nigga got

reprieve to step with ease. Here, she greets things and beings differently. Stepping in(side) a

Black world is worth leaving sum-desire(s) behind

, like time.

She used to feel an impulse to rhyme, but it is Different here with no one-time. She freestyles and

free falls life now that death is even different now. Her baby is dreaming on her own.

And she can let ‘em be.

And feel no need to direct cosmic energy 

to survival. 

She a thing that plays, smiles that sharp grin that meets at the line between shine and shadow. She

calls on community when things are wrong and her call is met with care instead of control.

Intersections are not graveyards where comptrollers discard the people and things that

disturb their bottom 

lines.

She, a black, walks as if.

The state is not watching—  

its agents are gone. She 

walks the same just 

a little different.

without , 

whole.

homegirl healin’ in The

Church of Black

feminist Thought.

Molotov the flock cameras, melt the rings for 

Cutlery. Arm the House/full of black women.

Minds and mouths full. Now 

She raises her glass 

at the holy communion of

Kitchen table revolutions.

Bio:  Vincente G. Perez, Ph.D. is a poet and scholar working at the intersection of poetry, Hip-Hop studies, and digital culture. He believes consciousness is a material that poetry can mold otherwise. He holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and was a Poetry and the Senses Fellow at the Arts Research Center. His award-winning debut chapbook is Other Stories to Tell Ourselves (Newfound 2023). His poems have appeared in Mizna, Electric Literature, Huizache, Obsidian, Poet Lore, and more. For more writing visit www.vincenteperez.com.