As Licentious As It May Sound, Grief is a Blessing/Twice Have I Heard (For Deacon Smalls)/I Remember Chitlin’ Circuit/ The Women That Surround You (For Nephraterie)
by ZOÉ COKER
in Fall 2025
Tafari Melisizwe, “Mr. B,” 2024
As Licentious As It May Sound, Grief is a Blessing
As licentious as it may sound, grief is a blessing because you get to circle my heart forever. However, I know that it will erode from the abrasions of the procession. What I do not know is who amongst the crowd carries the axe. The axe is a metaphor for where I chose to leave you, or for where you did not wish to leave me. Sometimes, I envision it has fallen to the ground. Perhaps, it is just the end of my litany and the reason I never asked God
Why.
Twice Have I Heard (For Deacon Smalls)
I know a shout still has the power
to get the attention of God
because that lull in my life is now
well with my soul.
I Remember Chitlin’ Circuit
This Life Everlasting in the palms of my
hands tells me that the artist was always known.
There is a Black Pearl nestled in this
patchwork that Charlie Fitzgerald once
touched¾a jewel there in its batting.
But it’s an open circuit now.
The Women That Surround You (For Nephraterie)
we often do this thing for them.
sit with their souls
should they need it.
and we were always there
dying early.
they say to us
that was nice.
the threat of love usually hollow.
yet she finds grace for herself in
the glimpses slid across to her.
he has, nevertheless,
given her back her moiety
and how nice of him.
Zoe Coker is a second-year doctoral student in ethnomusicology at UCLA. She is also a graduate of Howard University, where she received her BA in African American Studies. Her work is fueled by what she considers to be the ‘embers’ of jazzwhat may emanate from jazz as a site of unbridled, yet deliberate emotional inquiry. You may follow her on Instagram @jazzembers.
