Affirmations

by Raphael Jenkins


“I’m an upgrade of your stereotype.”
– Charli XCX, Femmebot


I am compound of feather & burnt umber—slathered on a scaffolding sprouting into
brilliance. I am nimble mountain & bent arrows gliding a clean cut. I am gnawed cheek
—thickened, which is a sort of getting-ready-for, though, showing only after its over. I am
sunshade & nightlight slipping my arms round the whole of the earth, kissing her

nimble brilliance, her bent mountain cut. I am cheeks gnawed clean from bone
now melting buzzard belly. I am storm clouds hovering hyaline sea, the thunder’s clap-
back too—I slip sonic booms round the whole of the earth. Kiss me, your knight in
paisley armor—ain’t I dapper?  Smelling of oud, a fresh j & static—ain’t I—nah,

I am thunder! I clap & clouds bellow storms—seas normally a sheet of glass now
chop & screw in a holy remixing. My lips are a fade-to-black, or better, a
benediction—every word an ode smelling of a fresh j & armored with honey. My
tongue is a silk sai postured to strike at moments notice. My hair is a farm of fluffy

fists, or better, my hair is a Jay-Z song chopped & screwed into a syrupy remix—
every curl thickened, which is a sort of miracle, showing only after a
thorough greasing. I am polarity compressed into a civil war—my body,
burnt umber slathered & featherweight, folded & bound to avoid splitting in two


Raphael prefers to go by Ralph, as he feels it suits him better and he’s heard every Ninja Turtle joke ever uttered. He’s a native of Detroit, Michigan currently residing in Kentucky with his Boo-thang and their four-year-old boy. He’s a chef by day and an essayist, poet, screenwriter in his dreams. He, like Issa Rae, is rooting for everybody Black. His work has been featured on his mama’s fridge, his close friends’ inboxes, 3 Elements Review, Frontier Poetry, Flypaper Lit, Rust + Moth, Alien Literary Magazine and elsewhere. You can find all of his work here: https://linktr.ee/RALPHEEBOI And he’s on TWITTER & IG: @RALPHEEBOI