April 21, 2024

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Kiss Kill (A Haiku Sonnet)

By Sloane Kali Faye

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Kiss Kill (A Haiku Sonnet)

By Sloane Kali Faye

Her first kiss wasn’t
meant to die, to entertain
your depressed man’s wish:
Know you still have “it”.
She confessed feelings like sin
left no risk, you won.
But she’s too-much-ness 
weird with risk, truth, and need. No:
Don’t chance a cute creep.
Her therapist knows
you’re a predictable threat,
“What are cheap thrills owed?”
An offed kiss wins cool against
your handshake slitting her hold.

Sloane Kali Faye’s writings appear in Salon, Al Jazeera, The BBC, Black Enterprise, AfroPunk, and other publications. Amongst other honors, The Aspen Institute granted Faye multiple awards for her forthcoming hybrid, poetry comics memoir, Wicked Wild. She lives in Harlem, NY, often illustrating to the 808s of her musical superheroes, Kid Cudi and Beyoncé.

Image description: Sloane, a brown-skinned Black with a fluffy black twist out hairstyle, gold fulani earrings and sheer cream blouse, is pictured in front of a white backdrop with dark brown eyes looking upward, making contact with the viewer.

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