Purpose, noun, the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used.
He existed on his parents mantelpiece, framed and matted next to his brothers.
He was used like a flashlight to find his mother’s past
on Washington.
Hands stretched in the looming words spat
at a people whose skin showed Saliva.

On washington
he knows his mother.
Red lips kissed the white dome.
Love -- an affair with rebellion.

Inch, noun, a very small amount of anything; narrow margin.
There was a small amount of space between him and his mother
when he asked to go to Mississippi.
Inch. Inch.

He was used as a ruler to mark 3 missing.
He was used like a rope
to suffocate a young people’s cause.
Inch. Inch.
Narrowly missing the peak of his existence--
falling from white tips.

His mother knows he didn’t spit down from heaven,
but he saw
saliva glistening on black skin.