Francisco-Luis White
Consors, W. 201 Street
I.
Thieves-thick, they were feeling like
maybe one more rum coke away
from ready for it or never.
Thick lips met. Nights like these
usually ended before they unzipped denim
revealing guarded sweetness, unbridling nature then.
Thighs thick, never once intently explored
or parted wide by lovers prior.
Suddenly his softness was desirable, permitted.
II.
But not gay,
not like them.
Just two niggas
fucking themselves free.
Ain’t that it?
It can be.
Him for him
brothers sort of
having each other
freeing each other
to be softer
on the low.
People define everything
that’s not hidden.
That’s the thing
which makes men
sometimes hide away,
sometimes hide themselves.
Francisco-Luis White is an Afro-Latinx poet and storyteller living in Washington, DC. White is the author of Found Them (CreateSpace, 2016), a chapbook dealing with transformation and departure in response to trauma along their gender/sexuality journey. White presented at Fire & Ink IV: Witness, a conference for LGBTQ writers of African descent; Carolina Conference on Queer Youth; and the United States Conference on AIDS. They have been recognized by National Black Justice Coalition as an LGBTQ Emerging Leader to Watch. In 2013, they were endorsed by Jill Stein and the Massachusetts Green Party as a candidate for Boston City Council. White has featured at Busboys & Poets (Sparkle) and the You Can’t Kill A Poet Reading Series in Philadelphia. Currently, they’re working on a collection of poems titled August to August. Learn more at franciscoluiswhite.com.