NIKKI RECALLED

before you spoke
at our graduation 
i recall a classmate saying
that the band's playing
"sound gooder denna mug" 

how snug that cap was 
how loose that tassel & gown,
recall baby blue birds 
in red running brown

clouds of how drowning 
in what nows

do we hold hands forever?
...  'til next semester?

can we swap clever anecdotes
with professors in knit sweaters?

may we do anything 
but crack beneath the pressure
of pulling our lives together?
a notions nectar 
a frozen measure
another  "you'll NEVER be ANY better 
than ______(fill in the blank)"

for it feels like we rank
years spent as felon
over years at Morehouse 
or Spelman

and I'm telling you
i HAD Romello's walk DOWN 
by senior year

but still dreamed
of being like Theo
 
like Dewayne-Wayne 
in those fresh J's
and duo flip frames,
on a path to stake claim
to my own Whitley
who spoke talked
and walked like...Nikki?
nah nah nah naw
hell naw

I recall not REALLY
knowing who you was

remember
how momma's eyes
buzzed with excitement
at mention of thine name
recall teachers too tired
to express the same

but in you came
like something plain
like something
that hadn't shamelessly
tamed the ways of flame
to play  casual on stage

as if your poetry 
weren't ALL the rave
as if the auto-bio wasn't 
critically acclaimed
 
as if Baldwin..
THE Baldwin James
hadn't put much respect
upon thy name
as you whispered reasons
through that eloquent exchange
why your blackman 
should lie to you
as he hides his pain

I refrain
in recollection 
of you telling us
that the BEST thing 
that we could ever do

"is make sure
that you invest 
in experiences...
for no one
will ever be able
to take that
from you"

as death
shall not take 
the experience of you
from us


-- Joseph Woods, Dec. 10, 2025