an appeal

god

laid under

smells

of pink

oil moisturized baby

powder bluecap

vaselined skin

so

soft

god of self

possession

fed upon

chilled

through

egg salad

sweet tea

in-uh

frigidaire

god of self

possession

i’ve seen

fingered

penneys and macys

catalogs

silver slippered

wedges

damasked walls

and virginia slims

breathing warm

god of self

possession

i’ve seen

what you have done

too sticky

plasticized

sofas

cradled armchairs

tables dusted

and pledged

in your name

god of self possession

i’ve seen what you have done for others

dip it in gold for me

NEXT

Andrea Lemoins uses justice oriented liberation frameworks to support Black communities in preserving their local memory institutions. Andrea is from Louisiana, and now lives in Philadelphia and works as a librarian. She is a life long labor organizer focusing on issues affecting Black workers, writes poetry, collects typewriters and enjoys reading science fiction. Philosophy of Librarianship: I believe that the liberation of knowledge is vital to improving the lives of Black people oppressed by white dominant culture. That assessing the living conditions of the people is how we measure the success of our work. That a person’s relationship and understanding of an object is more important than that object.