even in isolation

i am an island 

my tribe lives within me
in my vessels, in my bones,

in other familiar places unknown
thicker than blood and deeper than marrow
you are here because i've called for you
and i am here to answer your call.

i am because you are
and i see you as i am
your eyes are my mirror
you carry my face in yours
i see myself in you
you are a chosen one, my chosen one
but chosen by who?
could it be divined?
was it written in the stars?
those same stars the dot up the black night sky?

it's funny how
i can't quite see the tip of my elbow
but i know it's there
right...there, always on point
right there for me to lean on
ancestral flesh
skin folk

like the melanated jaguar
hidden in the shadows of the night
watching my back
my tribe moves with stealth and grace. unseen
at all times protected and safe, at ease
journeying through the darkness of the shadows
effortlessly holding us all together
through portals and wormholes
we move as one.

i’m learning that the mystical motion
of the waters
that ebb and flow at my feet
is ancestral wisdom,

my birthright
and just as the day dawns
just as the sun casts its first light
i remember that while i might be an island
i never walk alone