Back of the House
…at Heaven’s between Mark Twain and Bookies…
We Praise the Lord.
all of us.
We Palmer Park
after dark.
We hoe stroll and strut.
Dance and split.
Get sick.
Trick.
We forn
And faun
all of us.
We sip and spin
Twirl with the girls.
Honey chile…
We live.
All of us.
We spark and plug
We sniff and puff
all of us.
After hours
laughter-ours
And We
are still here.
Kalimah Johnson is a Detroit-based clinician, poet and writer pursuing a PhD in English Literature at Wayne State University with a focus on African American poetics, Black feminist theory, and testimony. Her award-winning work bridges art and activism, and she leads community-based literary healing programs through the SASHA Center.