Unfurnished
–Nicole Sealey

Something was said and she felt /
a certain way about said something. /
—————————————–Certain only /
because there was no mistaking the feeling /
she felt—the sound empty makes inside /
———–a vacant house. /

Hysterical Strength
–Nicole Sealey

When I hear news of a hitchhiker
struck by lightning yet living,
or a child lifting a two-ton sedan
to free his father pinned underneath,
or a camper fighting off a grizzly
with her bare hands until someone,
a hunter perhaps, can shoot it dead,
my thoughts turn to black people—
the hysterical strength we must
possess to survive our very existence,
which I fear many believe is, and
treat as, itself a freak occurrence.