Us

This is a “Poem of the Day” feature piece I’d forgive u all the ways u ended meIf I didn’t see u everydayIn the folds of my skinThe stomp of my feet My cowardiceAnd passion feel soHome to meLike the way my legs are formedIn the same thick, stumpy shape as ursAnd my handsStrong andContinue

Fragility (essay)

This essay about safe spaces (or lack thereof) is a reaction to a rather unpleasant experience I had at an open mic, and features a poem by the same title. Last night I went to an open mic at Busboys and Poets, a venue I thought was committed to creating feminist and queer-friendly spaces. SafeContinue

To the Once Enslaved of Morris Hall

I work for the ancestors. I have never worked for anybody else. Alice Walker To the Once Enslaved of Morris Hall: BlackberriesSweet blackberries and grass that smells of onionsWhere rivers cross by, carrying messagesTo the roots of the treesHere since the land was fertileAnd toiled. Here have set foot‘Scendents of yours By far through theContinue

Transformation of Silence

Over the last several months I’ve been forced to grow in ways that I haven’t been able to begin naming until today. It started with the loss of close friendships and ended in a pile of social intricacies that I mishandled in some way or another. Fissures grew in my relationships with family members, myContinue

Anonymity

I love the way my name soundsAs it’sFalling off cracked lipsAnd crashing to the coldUnyielding ground belowCratering its surfaceAnd burrowing itself intoThe fiery coreOf this dying earth I love the way it looksSoaring off  bleeding tonguesAnd floating on theWind, up to a boundless sky.Rising through unsympathetic nebulaReaching the piqued earsOf a God who looks likeContinue

Wishes/Whispers

I know my paternal grandmother in very vague terms. Mary Wright is her maiden name and the only one I know, though she married twice. Mississippi schoolhouse teacher, mother of five, grandmother of ten, great-grandmother of seven. She has gold teeth in her mouth so when she smiles, which is always on her own termsContinue

Black Woman, Who Are You

My daddy is so BlackThat the night bleeds into his skinHis hands turn to dark oaksEach burnt fingerExtending from arms as coldAnd onyx as forest earth When he looks at meHe sees my BlacknessStretching from the tight coils in my hairDown the length of both my chunky legsAnd over my two, bare feet That isContinue

Black Girl, Quiet

I am sensitive to the silencersThe ones who shoot you dirty looksWhen your laugh is too big for the roomOr your lipstick too loud for your color I don’t care for censorshipAsking me to lower my voice and temper my languageBecause others need the spaceTo be comfortable I have no use for restrictionOn my expressionMyContinue

I Don’t Wanna Be Sexy

Some days I want to be a rose bush, To plant my roots so deep beneath the soil I can feel the heat wafting off the center of the earth Sexy sounds like a scratched cd stuck on the same shitty song and I’m oh so tired of hearing it I wanna light the worldContinue

Live

live for laughterfor the lovefor the sins we cannot repentfor the people we cannot repaydance as if it hurts to stand stilllet your feet feel the Earthbe blind in your judgmentand all seeing of the possibilitiesfloat free upon whatever makes you smileslip into lustwith the liner on your eyespluck your brows and paint your lipswearContinue