A giant star dies because it’s core collapses in on itself
But for that instance it burns brighter than the entire galaxy

You were a byproduct of your own galaxy
Gravity molding the contents of a negro boy child into
Light and fire

Once a week you would lock yourself in a room
Fast the whole day and dance till you collapsed
My father is the one that told me this story
It made the vision of you all the more exquisite
Because anything Papa believed in was holy

And you were my rhinestone-gloved martyr
The Christ child of the 21st century
I rejoiced in the redemption you offered

An unworthy disciple, I would mouth my desire
And from those silent prayers
You plucked my desperate need for escape
And spun it into a starlight hammock
That cradled me through more weeks
Than any child should spend alone
You made me believe you understood
Intoned it in the very cadence of your voice

But what is a martyr without sacrifice
And neither money, nor trinkets and costumes
That dazzled in purples and reds and gold
Could ever save you from crucifixion

How we reveled in the beauty of your suffering
And how you burned bright for us
Right up until the end
When you collapsed in on yourself
Blinding us all with that final burst of light