My partner sucks her teeth each time i play ashanti

- for t.m.r.j.

says her voice see through & saran wrap thin—it stay breaking
but that girl sounded all like dandelions & hopscotch
chalk back in the day you know

it's never been that ashanti hits the note
only that she sticks with it

have you heard that joint happy
ja rule at the open
sounding like he got gravel scratching through his throat
someone asked me once why folk let ja sing
with that nasty ol voice of his & i told them
the nicest thing my high school crush
said about my singing is that it was not awful
& i didn’t get much better than that
but i never quit trying to be the thing to catch her eye
nearly broke my own heart
thought love involved a necessary breaking

my dad nearly stopped singing after he & moms split
kept his song silent except at church
when i heard his voice bending all around the note
as if it was a love he prayed for
but could never quite catch & maybe
that's why i understand this emotion most in its contours
at each of its edges
why i keep trying to step inside
but can never quite get it right
the way ashanti comes in & misses each time but
enters again anyway
singin

i'm so glad
i found you