by Alicia Elkort
I would have named him
Jeremiah or Asher
a prophet, a blessing—
the only name to bloom
an empty womb,
a name he roots in asphalt
step by step, past liquor
stores & holiday lights.
He cherishes the night
as he walks home,
remembers the way
he was loved, bookmarks
of song & story,
crayons & boy dirt.
Long on compassion,
forgiving & bright
he enchants the city
(not the other way around)
his black sky a warm embrace
over every shuttered building.
He’d never be alone
on any dark corner—
I’d be there, if not in body
then syllable,
a mother who would praise
even his despair.
I wish I had a son.
I would have named him
Jeremiah or Asher,
a prophet, a blessing.
Alicia Elkort’s poetry has been published in AGNI, Arsenic Lobster, Black Lawrence Press, Georgia Review, Heron Tree, The Hunger Journal, Jet Fuel Review, Menacing Hedge, Rogue Agent, Stirring: A Literary Collection, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, as well as many others. Her poems have been nominated for the Orisons Anthology (2016), A Best of the Net (2018), and the Pushcart (2017 / 2019), and she placed 3rd in the 2019 Poetry Superhighway contest. Alicia reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal. For more info or to watch her two video poems: http://aliciaelkort.mystrikingly.com/
A-Minor 
Beautiful.