Tangerine

I wasn’t meant to be human

In my eyes you’ll see a shade of orange around the pupil that looks like a planetary ring

Since long ago, I’ve known that I come from a place where

beings of light and color mingle like

transparent clouds

And the color of skin is

no longer a litmus test of

privilege

or way to deal with melanin

because skin is no longer keeping us in

Also: No eyeballs no arthritis no blood no fences no loneliness

Only coffee, only love, only flow,

like the ink from my pen when I put it to paper and draw myself back into the realm

where I belong

in tangerine tones