Poetry Archive

Psalm 5 for Black Boys

 

But let all black boys take refuge in you.

Let
the confounding black boys
the nerdy black boys
bookish black boys
playful black boys
boisterous black boys
shy and quiet black boys
athletic black boys
tech-savvy black boys
empathetic black boys
the righteous black boys
the spiritual black boys
the rebellious black boys
the searching black boys
poetic black boys
truth telling black boys
prophetic black boys

sing and shout,
rejoice in you.

Surely, LORD, you will
bless them and keep them

Surround them with your favor,
gauntlets
vambrace
and shield.


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Filed under: Poetry Archive

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Carla M. Cherry (she/her) is a native of the Bronx, NY and a veteran English teacher. Her poetry has appeared in various publications, including Anderbo, Eunoia Review, Dissident Voice, Random Sample Review, Firefly Magazine, Picaroon Poetry, Streetlight Press, MemoryHouse, Bop Dead City, Ariel Chart, Anti-Heroin Chic, and The Racket. She has published four books of poetry through Wasteland Press: Gnat Feathers and Butterfly Wings (2008), Thirty Dollars and a Bowl of Soup (2017), Honeysuckle Me (2017), and These Pearls Are Real (2018). Her fifth and latest book, Stardust and Skin (2020), was published by iiPublishing. She is an M.F.A. candidate in Creative Writing at the City College of New York.