Best Poems Written by Kenyon Harris

Below are the all-time best Kenyon Harris poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Details | Kenyon Harris Poem

Check Please

Well, this is not what I expected 

I came to this smoky bar
Wednesday night 
Bourbon and sage on my palate

Jazz man testifying 
His hands play Carolina blues
And the sounds take my mind away

Until you
That is, until you walked in 
Looking like my best adventure and my worst decision 

Lavender lips revealing a smirk that says...
Damn 
What does it say?
Between this brown liquor and the curve of your thighs 
I almost forgot you had eyes

Oh yeah, I remember 
Your lips dipped in lavender say, 
Is Anyone sitting here?
I reply before I can think 
Because no one is sitting here 
And yes, I need it to be you

The stripping away of your jacket reveals
Black dress clinging to the roundness of your hips
Mocha skin
Glistening in the haze and this candlelight
Like a prompting from my ancestors
Leading me to you

Your curls like dark wisps of mahogany and onyx
High cheekbones and a frame sleek and generous at the same time
Eyes that connect with mine
And I don't know if it's serendipity or what I have in this cup
But I'm intoxicated and intrigued

We enter conversations about James Baldwin and Nina Simone
How I grew up on Wu-Tang, and you grew up on FuFu and collard greens
As you describe Powernomics and how industry should be nationalized
I'm lost in thought, curious about the taste of your inner thighs

What can I say?
I am intrigued
Aroused
And I want nothing more than to be enveloped by you
I want to feel the pulse of your heartbeat against my tongue
I want to experience the uncontrollable rising of your chest 
As I talk you through it and embrace you in aftercare

But in this moment I know it's better to be here
In this room, present 
With you
Engaged 
In conversation

You tell me about your philosophy
And how intimacy with you could bring me to my knees

Well, this is not what I expected
So, I call over to the bartender
Check please

Copyright © Kenyon Harris | Year Posted 2026


Details | Kenyon Harris Poem

Esteem Abyss

She stood there in the limelight shining bright
But her mind couldn’t make her raise her eyes
They gathered ‘round her callin out her name 
And she thought “Is this the price of Fame?”
See, her body bought her rings and chains
But the chains brought on depression, lots of pain
To ease the pain, she turned to weed and Caine
So beautiful and such a shame

She met man who paid to tell her what was stressing him
Before she knew it; she had slept with him
Did it once and then she did it again
In due time she had laid with different men
She thought she would just strip to pay for classes
Didn’t see her future through her Third Eye lashes
Everyday she cried tears through her D&G glasses
Only twenty and a good girl gone backwards

Weeks pass by, nobody’s heard from her
Tears in the eyes of her son and daughter
Mama wondering where she went wrong
Black girl lost, the same old song
She prays and prays, but she knows the reality
To the streets she became a casualty
Told her to stop, cause she had a vision of the O.D.
Mama won’t open her eyes cause she don’t wanna see
Her baby dead so young, Rest In Peace

Copyright © Kenyon Harris | Year Posted 2026

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