Poetry Suite by Amber Flame
“(there are no enemies in this story.)”
Poetry by Amber Flame
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the lost scriptures: prelude, before the dedication page
we are all clear this be a story of departure and desertion. feel free to read between the lines as you determine protagonist and antagonist.
(there are no enemies in this story.)
bad guy wakes up with wet panties
again
alone.
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the lost scriptures: part one, chapter 3, verse [redacted]
in which we pick up with our hero as she packs up and leaves. (again.)
it's a streamlined process:
always on a clear night
always after dark
this hero be disappearing act. be three ring circus. madness. poof and
gone.
(just like that.)
dear reader this is a telling of the last time my pussy disappeared on me and perhaps how she might come back. you will have to get chapters 1 and 2 from her lips directly. this is where I come in.
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the lost scriptures: part three, chapter [redacted], verse 69
remembrance to how sweetly I come when called. in which I beckon while I take.
welcome is always a laden table.
always a sweet mouth return.
this love be twist and burn. consumption. (anguish.)
dear reader, this be how it was she came back to me. like not easy but right. like found beast in the open palms of a lover.
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a small psalm as you go
O,
do you remember small throat
between your thighs
drinking me in with greedy gulping
O,
how i hope i haunt every mouthful
remind you how sweet
a liquid swallow you become
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upon inheriting
your predecessor's inbox
your dead mother's estate
your absent father's fear of commitment
your country's least-valued skin
each a
common place
every day
run of the mill
ordinary
cruelty.
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Header image courtesy of Renzo Razzetto. To view a gallery of his art on NAILED, go here.
Amber Flame, an award-winning writer and performer, is also a singer for multiple musical projects. Flame’s original work is published and recorded in many diverse arenas, including Def Jam Poetry, Winter Tangerine, The Dialogist, Split This Rock, Jack Straw, Black Heart Magazine, and forthcoming from Sundress Publications, Redivider and more. Since moving to the Bay Area, Flame works as a teaching artist, is The Hand for TWiB! and the slammaster for Oakland Slam while performing daily feats of Black girl magic. She performs regularly on musical, literary, and cabaret stages, and works as an activist and organizer for a diverse number of queer and POC communities. Amber Flame is one magic trick away from growing her unicorn horn.