#alternate names for black boys

1. smoke above the burning bush

2. archnemesis of summer night

3. first son of soil

4. coal awaiting spark & wind

5. guilty until proven dead

6. oil heavy starlight

7. monster until proven ghost

8. gone

9. phoenix who forgets to un-ash

10. going, going, gone

11. gods of shovels & black veils

12. what once passed for kindling

13. fireworks at dawn

14. brilliant, shadow hued coral

15. (I thought to leave this blank

but who am I to name us nothing?)

16. prayer who learned to bite & sprint

17. a mother’s joy & clutched breath

—Danez Smith, “alternate names for black boys”