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winged victory of samothrace

Pythokritos, early second century, Parian marble
​​At the very end of The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey
relinquishes the hold of her steed    summons the brimstone
polishes her old frenzy’s ghosts    against the wishes of a timid
woman’s worries, bounds two octaves
             for the glories of Icarus    for the supper table invocation
             for the pot of greens only her savior could throw a ham
             hock into    for the empty bellies of all those crying   
             for cries into the watchful dusk    for all the names she
             gives the night    for all night could refuse to call her— ​
                          call her grimoire    call her trouble    call her
                          weeping    call her diva, a new Nike— 
                                       call for freedom    call for fury    call for
                                       furnace    call for three boys, no, four— 
                                                    burn the loom    slash the stitches
                                                    rip the silk    loose the feathers
                                                    ink the text— 
                                                              a sparrow seen    a nest
                                                              of coins    a payment given
                                                              a call collect   a payphone,
                                                              victory lady    a busted
                                                              joint    a wretched penance
                                                              from whence she might just
                                                                           flee    fly    spring
                                                                           jump, darling,
                                                                           jump— ​
                                                                                        & of the sun,
                                                                                        steals it.
Picture
Image courtesy of © Rijin S/ Wikimedia Commons.
Note: “Winged Victory of Samothrace” is occasioned by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey’s “Fly Like A Bird,” from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).

Willie Kinard III is a poet, performer & creative strategist forged of South Carolina thunderstorms. With words in or forthcoming in WILDNESS, Crab Fat Magazine, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, & elsewhere, he is currently an MFA candidate in the Creative Writing program at the University of Pittsburgh. Willie also serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief at Hot Metal Bridge & a producer of the podcast [in brackets].
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