Turn Off the Lights

by Khalilah Okeke

Over there

the Black Sea is a jellyfish

shipwrecks pile on shores
building boneyards

moonlight wanes through
a sooty stratosphere

Earth recedes into her bellows.

We crowd in dim-lit houses
porches sodden with ocean water

shaken streets scatter.

Over here

we plant broad-leaved-palm-lilies
in summer

eat backyard crops by candlelight
whiz through city lanes by bike

peg laundry on the washing line.

Our heart chakras
are solar panels -

breathing in the sun
unfurling flowers.