Dominique, Aushanti, and Laniya climb inside of me
They are not supposed to be here but Dominique caresses my gas
And suddenly I am awake
We ride through lights
Red like drops of blood in the night sky
Ignore stop signs and laugh about it
The road turns
sharp and suddenly
red and blue lights are behind us
Siren screaming cutting through the purr of my engine
Dominique slams my gas again but suddenly I don’t want to be out anymore
The steering wheel jerks and the road is missing from underneath of me.
My bumper careens down and I feel the swamp flood into me
Grass invading my vents and mud making my headlights unusable
I hear their screams
Aushanti yells
“Panicking just wastes oxygen and y’all know y’all always panic”
I feel Laniya grab ahold of my seat and wish I could smooth her hair down
Breathe her life into her as it exits
I feel them yank on my seat belts and try to take them off
They’re stuck
We see more lights around the swamp and realize there is help here
My girls start screaming asking for salvation
A deputy grabs his radio
Speaks into it
Explains the situation but it’s the last words he says that makes me realize
We are on our own
“The call for help is not urgent”
Why isn’t the call for help urgent
“Of course they’re black”
Can’t they see my babies dying
Skin begging for gills to sprout.
The womengirlsthugsgirlsdanger never get to greet the sun.
The kick and I will my glass to shatter.
Pray
Beg
For a crack
Anything
Please
Let these babies out, none of them are even over 16
Holding your breath will kill you
Breathing out will kill you
And trying to remember how to turn water to air will kill you too
I want to let them out
I never meant for this iron womb to become cage, to become trap, to become tomb
I want to let them out
My doors wont open, the water is rising
I want to let them out
The water is displacing them inside me
I want to let them out
It is their last breath
I want to let them out
It is their last--
