Klethon Gomes, What Is The Shape Of Your Body?

What Is The Shape Of Your Body?

Klethon Gomes

Too dark to be one Too light to be another Too curly to keep it on “Please shave it off, my love” Says his Mother

Too skinny to be loved and seen “I think you should go to the gym” Says his friend and brother.

What about the eyes, mouth, legs, and hands? He wonders But it doesn’t matter He’s just another one among hundreds

“Where are you from?” They ask him “Because you look mixed” They say

He says “Brazil” He knows it’s not enough to describe the shape of him Because he’s not in heaven or hell He’s in between

He carries the Berlin wall on his shoulders He’s the living Ham’s Redemption He’s the consequence of a plan to “clean up” a nation He’s the intersection of war, bloodshed, and subjugation

“What is the shape of your body?” They ask him “The shape of my body is history” He replies