I.
the thirst is real.
when i am fake woke, i travel
idly
i arrive and act like i never been nowhere-
cause i never been no where.

II. 
the atlantic ocean covers a square
mass of about 41 million square feet:
on either side, quaint eyes of wonderers,
niggas with no purpose-
living, breathing, sleeping, shitting human beings
with their bodies, wet from sweat in their office

they aren’t far from the cooler
but Flint is far from their hearts.
 
III.
my father told me I must be baptized to go to heaven.

IV.
but yet somehow god is not fluid

V.
when nana’s holy water touched me moments after me
jumping the proverbial cliff,
I knew then, god figured me a slippery slope.

VI.
we cracked open the fire hydrant and played like jesus nightly-
dawn cracks & i drink a cup of water with three ice cubes

and that’s is the only part where i am not drowning.
 
VII.
the end of the movie will always
be jack & rose… and the space between them.
 
VIII.   
i learned from the ocean to love free
but, with time, all things too heavy will submerge
to the pollutions,
the sea is wet burial grown.

IX.
70% of water yet
i choose to wade in the me
that is unclean.

 X.       
water has a way of washing sin
on Sunday mornings, I shower like a prayer
until I am all sea level calm blue and rhythmic
but underneath
be atlantis
where the dying happens.
 
Tyrek Greene is an educator living and learning in New York City. In 2017, he joined the likes of Ocean Vuong, Natalie Diaz, and Marilyn Nelson to perform at House Divided, an event held Cooper Union in dedication to the arts and political revolution. His works have been included in these literary magazines: Plain China, Toasted Cheese, Loch Raven Review and The Rushlight.