(2016 Ian MacMillan Awards, Poetry Finalist)
the Fantastic Four is tré shitty but tough shit. Michael B. Jordan is already on flame. on fleek. he’s ahead of the game’s excited red, to the danger zone and beyond. so innanet trolls seem quite non-toxic,
crayola crunchy with their colorism; too trapstarry to be taken seriously under this everlasting lol yr different sky. but baby, science don’t stop the cold outside, the unchanging aerodrome. everything
is about race except race which is about power. don’t these trolls know it? don’t they’ve known it?: Curvier [with no advisement, trust] studied our heroes under his metric gaze. elegant facts await
him, eh, Mrs. Alexander? small things in this world are his--so it blows. so Michael B. knows God gave Noah the rainbow sign no more water but fire the next time. well it’s the next time. it’s a gamey
time thick with the primordial soup of ash. Terrance says, and don’t Terrance always got some shit to say, whether you consider dogs symbols of security / or symbols of danger depends upon whether / you’re
inside or outside the fence. or if the fence is burning or if you’ve set their fence aflame or if they’ve set your fence aflame. come on now, y’all (white boys, Curvier, innanet) are mad just cause
THE SUPERHEROES SHOULD BE WHITE! should be filled with light, and i agree. when i think of God or the Nordstrom’s manager i hate myself under interrogative sheen-- what are you
doing? are you lost? can you afford to be here? like i keep telling my ~*identity*~ to improve is to change; to perfect is to not even give a fuck. but i know, i know, me always with the soapbox
theory and while M.B.J. might be the homie, i hate his open courseware greasy with erasureguts. true story: one time Jordan wrote maybe in the future we won’t talk about [race] as much.
thank god for as much, thank god for the modifier. not errybody gotta be Madame Lorde, but damn mr. Jordan, not a very fiery approach. let’s get stormy, bro! i know we didn’t start the fire,
what’s wrong with tossing some kindling? throw the comments section, the racist soft-shell science, this light [all known with obfuscation and certain slant]. Stan Lee stoked this up good. if somewhere
in America there is a body perpetually burning-- i mean, the joke writes itself, am i right?
*[The title is borrowed from the comments section of article discussing Michael B. Jordan’s casting as Johnny Storm in 2015’s re-make of The Fantastic Four]*
Kamden Hilliard goes by Kam. Kam is the author of two chapbooks: distress tolerance (Magic Helicopter Press, 2016) and perceived distance from impact (Black Lawrence Press, 2017). Kam has received nice news from Callaloo, NFAA, The UCROSS Foundation, and The Davidson Institute. Check his poems in The Black Warrior Review, Redivider, Word Riot, and other sunspots.