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Anyone who tells me I have to do something must not have heard that saying about Blackness & death
Written by Dkéama Alexis
Illustrated by Alyssa George
Est. Reading Time: 1 min
Only thing I have to do is untrample my neck.
is listen for the holler of the hit dog on any terrain.
is skin my teeth, all thirty-two.
is remain unchanged by the master's whim.
is know i'm already Dead & await the reaper still.
is become the reaper & the harvest.
is watch the seasons go by,
my fingernails waxing and waning
with the dirt of unpromised days,
skin getting browner in the sun.
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Published July 6, 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Author’s Bio
Dkéama Alexis is an Black trans— writer, dreamtender, death doula, and bricoleur living on unceded Mvskoke and Tsalaguwetiyi land (Atlanta, GA). they enjoy writing creative non-fiction and poetry about music, film, tarot, Black feminism(s), indigenous Black & African spiritual technologies, and Afro-Caribbean diasporic memory. his work has been published in RUB Magazine, SISTORIES Lit Mag, Porch Water Press, augury, and other publications. as always, she is dreaming towards a world without police, prisons, or borders.
︎ @ecstasyandruin
︎ Newsletter
Dkéama Alexis is an Black trans— writer, dreamtender, death doula, and bricoleur living on unceded Mvskoke and Tsalaguwetiyi land (Atlanta, GA). they enjoy writing creative non-fiction and poetry about music, film, tarot, Black feminism(s), indigenous Black & African spiritual technologies, and Afro-Caribbean diasporic memory. his work has been published in RUB Magazine, SISTORIES Lit Mag, Porch Water Press, augury, and other publications. as always, she is dreaming towards a world without police, prisons, or borders.
︎ @ecstasyandruin
︎ Newsletter
Artist’s Bio
Alyssa George is a Puerto Rican and Panamanian-American illustrator, designer, and avid crafter. She enjoys playing with vibrant color and texture to create striking visual narratives. She holds a BFA in Animation & Digital Modeling from the University of South Florida and hopes to use it to uplift underrepresented stories.
Alyssa George is a Puerto Rican and Panamanian-American illustrator, designer, and avid crafter. She enjoys playing with vibrant color and texture to create striking visual narratives. She holds a BFA in Animation & Digital Modeling from the University of South Florida and hopes to use it to uplift underrepresented stories.
︎ @ealyssumsinbloom
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