moonlight    blue    touch

                     (inspired by the film    moonlight)

who is you, Chiron?

Little    runnin’ through the cut

Liberty City    Miami    Florida


we’re gonna beat your faggot ass

the breeze    flows in from the blue

Juan tells him    let your head rest in my hand

relax    i got you    i promise    i won’t let go

there you go    10 seconds    right there

you in the middle of the world

Juan tells him    just like you

runnin’ around    no shoes on

the moon was out    i was runnin’    hollerin’

cuttin’ a fool    boy

the old lady said    runnin’ around

catchin’ a lot of light

in moonlight    black boys look blue

you blue    that’s what i’m gonna call you    Blue


you have to know    who you really are

Kevin asks Chiron    you cry?


i should have cried too much

i feel i’m gonna turn into drops

the breeze drifts in from the blue

the strand flutters    gulls lift    float down

black skin    brown skin    blue

Kevin cradles Chiron    light fingers on his temple

Chiron breathes deep    i’m sorry    he says

what’s there to be sorry about?    whispers blue

10 years pass

Kevin and Chiron    meet in the diner


who is you, Chiron?


i’m dealin’    trappin’

Kevin says    i’ve always done

what others wanted me to do

Chiron says    you the only man

who ever touched me


the only one

the breeze drifts in from the blue

the strand flutters    a gull lifts    floats down

Kevin cradles Chiron

light fingers on his temple

Chiron breathes deep

he remembers Juan    teaching him to swim


black boys look blue    in moonlight

Author(s)

  • Bernard Block was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and attended Cornell University and Brooklyn College. He hitch-hiked to California in 1965 and lived in the Haight-Ashbury through 1967 where he gave poetry readings at the I and Thou Coffee Shop, North Beach coffee houses and Golden Gate Park. He returned to NYC and studied with the poet Colette Inez in the mid '70's. He earned his living as a caseworker with the Bureau of Child Welfare in New York City (he is now retired). Bernard has read at all the major spoken-word venues in NYC. He has presented his poetry in venues in Philadelphia, Columbia, SC and Asheville, NC. In August, 2014 he was invited to feature in Laugharne, South Wales in celebration of the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth. Bernard curates and hosts the Series “From Whitman to Ginsberg” at Cornelia St. Café. There have been 21 editions of this Series; the most recent was presented on September 28, 2018. All 21 editions were videotaped and can be accessed on his YouTube Channel. He has had 38 poems published in the prestigious European on-line literary journal Levure Littéraire #8, #9 and #12 (Editors: Rodica Draghincescu; Erika Dagnino). Five of Bernard's poems appear in the French/English literary journal Recours au Poème (Editor: Marilyne Bertoncini) with French translation by Elizabeth Brunazzi. In an article in this journal regarding the NYC poetry scene, Ms. Brunazzi devotes a significant discussion to Bernard's poetry and his organizing role on that scene. Bernard Block’s book of poetry "Am I My Brother’s Keeper?" has been released by Dark Light Publishing. This is a bilingual edition, English/Spanish, with evocative translations by the eminent Mexican poet, Roberto Mendoza Ayala. It is available on Amazon and from the author: [email protected]