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