Our girl hears Missy Elliot
on the radio— 95.9, The Throwbacks
She knows the words the way
you don’t really, just play the sounds
so when she enunciates GO DOWNTOWN
EAT IT LIKE A VULT-CHA we laugh
She knows that part, of course, but
then again she does know vultures
She jumps off the couch and soars
like a vulture. She dries her hair over
her face like a vulture does its wings
She puts her hands up against the light
— a shadow puppet vulture
She is black and furthest away
She sees vultures and takes binoculars
but cannot find them
The light is too bright