By Jalen Woods

today,
       in the beginning
God damn-near dapped
me up a hundred bands
palm sweat glands     wiped
debt clean      like white board
    white fictions    got you in trouble,
         young blood,
let go of the stories they tell you
         go      make your own
so,    I built fables out of my imagination
when the earth was formless & empty,
         God said,
                  let there be light
i chased it & became icarus before hubris
flexed wing muscles
         swole them into suns
found a sequel to joy
in sun spotted latissimus dorsi
back warmed a whole solar system
got that good glow       from my atmosphere
God carved a corner of the universe
to lock in,
           to be a kid & star
in the sky, the night skyscraper
cutting through white like paper;
paper limitations gone ball like lebron in ‘03
no heat needed,       it’s all in your sole
all in your two feet all in your soul
No need     for kerosene
Your halo is floating like your jumper
flying      without a fall in the world
God is your corner three
as the arena became   a fire
I made the heat of the day my own/I ain’t the creator but created the day I own/name
me king kwabena of tuesday/blues conqueror/sun spotted show-stopper/soul knocker/i
do not follow pain/i do not burn my chains/i pull my collar back/& walk my wounds
home/that’s my dog, my god moving backwards to my beginning/a start i needed after
so long so long so long/the chapter becomes ash & says
so long
     so long
          so long

~~~

As a Chicago-based poet and master’s student in urban planning and policy at UIC, Jalen Woods’s work addresses issues of displacement, housing insecurity, and the pursuit of joy amidst systemic upheaval.