By Thomas Sayers Ellis

Or Oreo, or
worse. Or ordinary.
Or your choice   
of category

            or   
            Color

or any color   
other than Colored
or Colored Only.
Or “Of Color”
         
            or   
            Other

or theory or discourse
or oral territory.
Oregon or Georgia
or Florida Zora

            or
            Opportunity

or born poor   
or Corporate. Or Moor.
Or a Noir Orpheus
or Senghor

            or   
            Diaspora

or a horrendous   
and tore-up journey.
Or performance. Or allegory’s armor
of ignorant comfort

            or
            Worship

or reform or a sore chorus.
Or Electoral Corruption
or important ports
of Yoruba or worry

            or
            Neighbor

or fear of . . .
of terror or border.
Or all organized
minorities.

• Social Commentaries

Poet Bio

Thomas Sayers Ellis grew up in Washington, D.C. and earned his MFA from Brown University. He is the author of Skin, Inc. (2013) and The Maverick Room (2005). He co-founded the Dark Room Collective in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received a Whiting Award in 2005. Ellis has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Case Western Reserve University, and Lesley University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. See More By This Poet

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