We call things what they are.

Pepper is not
dark speck dust
ash after wildfire.

Pepper is not
subtle pop of spice
freckling flank.

Pepper is not
black afterthought
say when
to
stop.

At our house, Pepper lives
green, red, dried blood brown bubbling
out of glass bottles top the stove.

Pepper courses through
pulse in every pot
our tongues know: hot, deep, full.

Pepper is born of
land, roots, vine raised fruit flourishing
in familial hands.

Pepper is undeclared
tenderly tucked in checked bags
on transatlantic flights.

We name things for where they come from.

Jasmine Respess is a Florida Native who writes about the intersections of her black Southern and Caribbean identities. Jasmine spent her undergrad career as a journalist, so she utilizes interviews of family members and research in much of her work. The tradition of magical realism has inspired her and she explores folktales and lore in her poems. Jasmine has been published in Emerging Florida Poets and Rusty Scythe Prize book 2016. She has lived in Florida and New Orleans, but is currently earning her MFA at The New School, NY.

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