It was a under a heavy sky,
That he looked up
With endless brown eyes
And from his mouth spilt forth
Poetic worlds full of hopeful promises.

And, it was there under that sheltering sky
That I found
Solace and comfort,
Knew no pain.
There within the glow
That exuded off
The brownness of his skin,
Magnified by the heat
In the air
And tripled by the warmth
Of his scent;
Of coconuts and blue oceans,
Of Caribbean, warm island breezes
Fused with incense and musk.

There within the magnitude
Of his intellectual expressions
I stood mute.
Taken aback by
The impossibleness
Of his righteous beauty.

And, it was then that I knew.

Freedom lay past him,
Just yonder
In that endless, heavy, blue sky.
All that he was;
Was lust multiplied,
Tying me down,
Claiming me his property,
With promises of his name
And his progeny.

But I knew that the only guarantee
Was one of poverty
And so spreading my metaphorical wings
Like some ethereal, kamikaze butterfly,
I soared.

Off rooftops,
Past projects,
Leaving my tormentors behind.
Bounding off structures
Like a superhero,
Superwoman in disguise.
I tasted freedom
And was inclined never to be victimized.

Valerie M. Russo