ABOLITION
EVERYDAY SH!T: THE PILOT ISSUE
after Danez Smith’s “summer, somewhere”
here, on the grindstone / of each other’s confidence / we sharpen our tongues / and when sparks fly / there is no burning / of Black flesh. / out there we made ourselves larger / by tearing something down / but here, we only destroy to make room / for self-esteem to blossom. / when you grace this bench / and they say / i love you / cuz we go way back / like ya hairline / inches rush back to your crown. / and when they tell you / yo lips fire hazard ashy / moisture returns to your mouth / like a springtime homecoming. / here, we welcome. / Black boys can be the bull / and the china shop. / Black girls who hate cooking / will still flambé any fool / raw enough to approach. / here, every binary expired. / here, everybody’s pronouns are these/hands. / here, reality is pure marble / chiseled by our wit. / yesterday, i told this boy / the yellow glare off his teeth / could halt traffic / and next to us / the bustling line / of tray-toting students / screeched to a stop. / when he responded / saying my breath was / kicking like kung-fu, / every one of those students / was sent flying / soon as they got a whiff. / and then me and the boy laughed. / and then we all laughed. / and laughed.
David A. Gaines (he/they) is a writer, director and actor born and based in Philadelphia. His work examines Blackness, masculinity, Christianity and mental health through an intersectional lens.Dave’s films have screened at film festivals such as the BlackStar Film Festival, Gary International Black Film Festival, National Black Arts Festival and the International Video Poetry Festival.As an award-winning, nationally touring poetry performer and Poet Laureate of Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, his work has also been featured in several publications including The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, VICE Media, Button Poetry, among many others.When not writing, performing or orchestrating films, you can find Dave teaching poetry in Philly public schools, spending time with nature and attempting a conversion to morning personhood.