Off on Holiday

0:00Hi, I'm Kira Alexis Tucker. I'm recording from Chicago, Illinois, and this is my poem off on holiday off on holiday Wild for once We drenched and drugged and flung our sun-starved bodies into branching and clubbing and stuffing our uncovered stomachs until Monday whole in the paws of corporate time Alive in the rare convergence of miles The dancers glisten with sequins and steam from I amy's 46 Martin Luther King day parade Bands are brandishing brass and batons while just like in King's dream. I am here and not quite here The rest filed down 45th as I opt for elsewhere this final seaside morning the breadcrum sand erasing a layer of me I wander ocean drives frozen low rider motorcade and watch goals die for anything worth the work

1:06Descended from humans who couldn't choose to vacate any duty. I'm silently enjoying my government holiday Two bridges removed of Liberty City's collective remembrance brigade Craving a single day without need for unrest. I protest Would King recognize that quiet act amid my carbon cascade of commercial flights Aw at a commodified art deco mirage libationary bloat in the gut or this so long sisterhood toasting our own un-lost lives Would he honor this day? I've decided to relish my civil right to dig a place for myself in the sand and blacken my skin in the sun The embrace of any shade is transient the way palms cast shadows on the bleach wash ship lap of an empty tower The bronze-backed man who waits there guarding lives is not on duty today