by DeShara Suggs-Joe
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
–Mark 8:36
souls for honey souls for matching socks souls for loose change souls for loose squares souls for loose souls for MTA fare souls for polices badges souls for jammed guns souls for souls souls for clean teeth souls for full stomachs souls for health insurance souls for orgasms souls for good grades souls for good souls for debt souls for spells souls for fire souls for flowers souls souls for rest souls for anxiety souls for faith souls for Jesus souls for the blood souls for the bloody souls oh souls souls for gel pens souls for getting out of the bed souls for the begging souls for Popeye’s chicken sandwiches souls for vegans souls for clear liquor souls for cleanliness souls to glitter souls for bodies souls for corruption souls to ships souls for oceans souls for land souls for war souls for asswhoppins souls for revenge souls for takeovers souls for lottery tickets souls for luck souls for souls souls for blacks souls go black souls been black souls for the meek souls for reparations oh those souls for sales souls for generational wealth souls for pieces souls for dinner souls to taste souls taste better with hot sauce souls for hot sauce souls for kin souls be kin souls for calling the souls back souls for going home souls for knowing home is always souls for the north star souls for sweet potato pie souls for cornbread souls for singing a sugary hymn souls for sermons souls for remembering souls be remembering souls as scars souls as backwash souls for backlash souls for granddaddy souls for big mama souls for greenhouse gas souls for planets souls for destruction
Souls for valuables souls oh souls stay on your ass ‘til you show them the money
DeShara is a queer black poet and the Creative Director of Workshops at Winter Tangerine. She co-founded Daughter’s Tongue and is a former member of the Youth Speaks Collective. She received her MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. She is a 2016 Callaloo Fellow, 2017 Poetry Incubator Fellow, and a 2018/2019 Pink Door Fellow. She’s been published in Tinderbox Journal, Winter Tangerine, The Texas Review, and others. She’s also been featured on Button Poetry’s YouTube platform. She has performed at the likes of Spotify, Yahoo, and Pinterest but considers home inside a classroom teaching creative writing or listening to her “Feels” playlist on repeat.