sugar on the floor (sing, etta)

edible sweetness
i will hit your tongue & disappear
before you are able to define raw
before the bud is ready
the grains slip past “hello” and “i love you”
while your lips are burning
and still i am not sure
your lips are burning
enough to make me over
into slow moving jaggery
that is able to steady the salt
in the palm of your hand
and stay there
but i fall
i fall easily through your fingers
not even a hand
deep and willing and already holding the world
can hold me
and before i can ask for more than the hand
for your wrist, arm, and shoulder
your chest, back, and feet
i am sugar on the floor

have you ever?
have you ever known?
have you ever felt?
the coldness of the floor?
it is in my memory and the darkness of my knees
have you ever?

i heard a woman sing like she knew
from way down deep in her belly
with a growl and a blue moon coming from
between her teeth
and the sun sleeping in her hair
i heard a woman sing like she knew
no one picks sugar up off the floor
they just sweep it to the side
like she knew the kind of person
who lets it fall
like she knew what wasted felt like
against the skin and in the mouth

“all i need is somebody to love me
all i need is somebody to care about me
so i won’t be wasted on the floor”

your lips are burning
and still i am unsure
i heard a woman sing like she knew
what that was
how to carry it and put it down
still sweet on the floor

sing, Etta
make the sound
of edible crystals slamming against pine
concrete wet with rain
and pale pink tile
sing and show them
stand there with heavy feet
on a stage and sing
what we feel on the floor
in the middle of brokenness

sing, Etta
let them see 
even sugar gets bruised
scream shout and holler 
right there in the song
lean into it like you do for me
early in the night
and let them hear 
how we go from black to brown to rust

sing, Etta
moan all through it
let them see
how we become rum
molasses
straight-chain right there on the floor
how we curl up and can’t let go
how we beg for the touch
with smoke on our breath
how we dissolve and become something else
still sweet
still sugar on the floor
sing, Etta

bring them to the altar
the street corner
the basement
and sing low in their ears
show them how to move like we do
how to feel whole against the floor
even while shattered and exposed

sing, Etta
let them hear your wings and leave enough just enough for me to keep