Skinfolk

Lyrics for Skinfolk

Skin walking like music All shades of soul, earth, wind, and fire Soft as sleep Where the sun kneels to worship in an open field of flesh Skin the color of prayer hands Of hard work and sacrifice The color of evening block parties and baptisms A spade-shaped heart Skin singing of shorelines Palm trees and dirt roads Of kisses and whispers Stretch marks holding wind on my waist The gift of gold glowing Shea buttered scars A moisturized head nod A map to a continent The color of origin The space between stars Ancient as now Rhythm and bebop skin The color of Garvey's starline Or Nina's fearless freedom A sheet of obsidian silk Moonbeams hollering A spider on a windowpane Skin double dutching the darkness A dance with a blemish of blues Hugging hues of a mother's womb Melanin marching The color of dreadlocked Jesus Ogun skin Luminous Cinnamon, bronze, copper Warm Sahara Hazel honeysuckle Cassava Ebony Caramel The small of the back The nape of the neck The reach of the wrist A thigh thinking of cocoa beans Skin I have loved you longer than loving Glistening still I have loved you and all your weary ways Stretched across oceans, tongues, and time