for margaret esse danner (12)

dedicated to the unraveling

for margaret esse danner

so very black a power
yr source of inspiration
so prettily dark a flower
yr cause for celebration
orisas bent at angles
as u plumbed our dark aesthete
unraveled stubborn tangles
stringent/bitter, syrupy sweet
combined to be pleasing.
yr sharp, incisive wit
proved so delicately teasing.
like an iya’s sugar tit.
yr dark chocolate wordplay
& impish scarlet bitchery
restored the tarnished sun day
with softly indigo witchery
til the last shades of sunset
relieved horror, brittle grief
& our dark obligations met
with poems beyond belief.

©Joseph McNair; 2009