Cotton Cane Tobacco

Opal Palmer Adisa

i am soft
cotton
sweet
cane
soothing
tobacco

i will not dissolve
in your mouth
melt
when you touch me
crumble
under your stare
i am sweet
skin tight
i don’t rub off
or liquefy in water

i am cotton candy
the thorn that yields
blood
the softness that produces
bruises
the whiteness that soils
the spirit
cotton
not soft
or white
a thorn that bites
that has relegated

a whole people
to commodity

i am nicotine
that chews
to mud the teeth
that gnawd to bone
the arms
that put to death
those who triumphed

i am cane
that chews
up the liver
with liquid clear fire
that sends heads reeling
and spirits in gutters

i am
cane
cotton
tobacco
the silenced workers
my ancestors birthed

Copyright © Opal Palmer Adisa