your mark on blue-black canvas undertones of summer sunsets &
pink peonies & pinã. risk the stroke
without guide or conjurer; this is yours.
etch the lines of locs inside out to coiled veins & arteries.
let shadowbright crevice your face.
allow what arises first to be enough.
stare boldly in its eyes syncopated cackle at your reflection.
rinse each brushed experience fully anew –
there is no mistake no way
stroke over & over till it is blue-black
trust you will know–
all our Mothers’ sing on tune vibrating the Brush.
c.r. glasgow (doc/she/we) is a non-binary, queer, first-generation Caribbean-American interdisciplinary healing artist. c has received fellowships and support from UCross, Anaphora, The Watering Hole, VONA, Hugo House, and others. doc has been the recipient of VONA’s 2021 Haitian Heritage Scholarship. c’s work has a 2023 nomination for Best of the Net and their chapbook, the Devils that raised Us, was longlisted at Frontier Poetry. c’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Black Lawrence Press, Rigorous Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Obsidian, Torch Literary, and other cross-genre spaces. Follow c on www.claudelleglasgow.com, Twitter: @fearlesscrg, and IG: @garudagin.
