You dance an ancient dance thru the sage hills of my dreams
every shame dispersed under each clap’s drunk mask
I finger a masenqo and sing
this meadow buds with ballads
butterflies tonguekiss
my eyelids are heavy with nectar
one stomp of your foot wakes me
my eyes never leave your pulse
I could never dance before
born wound tight by piety
prudish even in this perfect future I’m still afraid
until the chorus of illita parts my chest
and music pours me to the floor guiltless
your blades beckon me to trill
I flutter like a charmer has called
ecstasy shivers
from your shoulders
to your shoes
a single bead of sweat
drips
my simple city dress
slips
I’m ready
to quake
Hiwot Adilow is an Ethiopian American poet from Southwest Philadelphia. She is the author of the chapbooks In The House of My Father (Two Sylvias Press, 2018) and Prodigal Daughter (Akashic Books, 2019). Hiwot is the co-winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and is a fellow of The Watering Hole, Anaphora Writing Residency, and VONA. She holds a BA in Anthropology with a certificate in African Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Read more about her at www.hiwotadilow.com
