Alternate Names for Black Boys

1. smoke above the burning bush

2. nemesis 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. boy

10. phoenix who forgets to un-ash

11. god of shovels & black veils

12. what once passed for kindling

13. fireworks at dawn

14. brilliant, shadow colored 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