(no-no)

I used to call you (no-no)

Your dark, co-co skin

too opaque, I thought,

to see through.

I used to minnie-miney-mo you,

catch you by the toe, you,

spin you by the tail, you,

in circles, round,

until you melted

to the ground, you.

Then MLK died; and Otis, too.

I wept those days, along with you. Still do.