"Libation"

Here is a poem I wrote & worked on in the spring time... and now I'm ready to share on conscious vibration. This poem is inspired by one of the hottest dance parties in NYC - Libation at The Sullivan Room - along with the magic of affirming a growing relationship. As it so happens in writing poetry - the poem took on a life of its own - led by the moon and the goddess Erzuli (loa of beauty & love, sometimes described as the female energy of Legba in the Vodoun Pantheon, and understood to be of Dahomean in origin, although some scholars trace her contemporary description/worship securely in the Caribbean). 

I begin with a quote from Audre Lorde - one of her last interviews - where she defines Blackness as an approach - "a way of taking in the world" - this has long been on my mind...  really thinking about what this means. And so I decided to use this as the epigraph of my poem after I wrote & revised it because it captures the essence of what I wanted to conjure.

I would love to get feedback and comments! 

***

Libation

by Angelique V. Nixon

“Blackness is an approach, a way of taking in the world”
 ~Audre Lorde

Cocoa butter sweat on my neck

enraptured fingertips carry spirits

tracing ice water down your lower back

I see extraordinary pathways

radiant hues of gold & green light float between us

bursting flames like healing aloe plants rise

I am flying with

tendrils of charged air

soaring under me.

I remember you conjuring with an island moon

she is heavy with earth’s magic & revival

a new year’s promise

to catch this freak rhythm

grown sexy intellectual vibe

just in time

for libation.

Cocoa butter sweat on my fingertips

led by the soul drum & pull of the bass line

I take your hands in mine

we rise to an explosive rain

current of memory

I trace each movement in your thighs

succulent heat spilling from pores

ice cubes & water vapor dance

between our lips.

I am flying with spirits of warrior women

they glide around my hips

moving me into your fyah

each kiss feels like saltwater healing

the goddess Erzuli whispers to me

it is time & she is grace

make an offering.

Tongues ablaze in tune with mystic

sacred shoulders rock beats in circles
exquisite female energies of color

who speak through a canopy of touch

dancing bodies worship & let go

I feel time as it slows

pulses beneath skin

a groove in rebellious sync

with this afro-beat & house love of soul.

I surrender to you

with intention

for balance & goodness

sweet like sapodilla in summer

nourishing like callaloo & rum

refreshing as a sea bath under the full moon

here in this fyah

we can be reborn

we rise.