WHEN YOU LEFT YOUR BODY

When you left your body
we did not know what to do with it
now you have become a song 
in our dried mouths

I hope we figure your rhythms out
for since you left the tabernacle
we have still not learn to figure your notes up

Papa still cannot sing your song
and Mama still beats her breast

I still wonder if it is for the beauty
of the song
or the hurt stuck between the teeth of her heart after all these years

When you left your body,
Sista could not know what to do with your name
so Sista wove your name into music.

.we cover our tongues with each night.

but Papa and mama are still finding it
hard enough to cover their tongues
fully with it.

After all these years Sister, 
your name still remains a song in our mouths
which is hard to sing.