Body Count
Because to me, it means nothing; it’s just a number
It gives me no validation nor brings me shame
I, My Grandmother
My grandmother seasoned Saturday soups with songs,
but never the ones from the land she left behind.
She anointed my scalp with oil,
plaited my hair with prayers,
spooned love with the chocho into my mouth.
NESTED
My gratitude for your kindness was never expressed
For I was too young to be grateful
Too young to care, understand, or appreciate
You blessed three little girls of color
And valued their mother, a loyal worker for years
raíces
madre estas raíces no se pegan a nada
madre tu angustia no se quita con nada
Too LOUD
I spoke loud with my red dress on,
The one that had the split on the sides.
Yeah, that one.
Freedom
Basic freedom was denied
And daily I cried.
Labeled as the “weaker sex”
Taunted mercilessly. My soul grew vex.
Wretched. Worthless
An imbecile. Senseless.
Bra-less
I look up with my head high
Shoulders back
And a smile on my lips
Unafraid
Unashamed
Free
Fam Constellation - Me Kali
Everyone has to thrive in order for the system itself to thrive, every display of hate is only an unexpressed need to feel valid.
Ouroboros
Through all layers and fits it slithered
Though still I scrambled to look decent
The Weight of my Feminity
Heavy is the weight of my femininity,
But a weight I will bare until a change has come
To the men in my area
I’m tired of writing about this
I’m tired of writing this
I’m tired of being handed material
these burdens that I carry
everything destroyed in reverence of a new god, an unfamiliar god, they called him money. this god had power unlike any my people knew before, and to how my grandfather told it - it demanded servitude, offerings, and sacrifice like no other. It was an angry god.
I Am Woman.
I know my rights.
I know my strengths.
I know my history.
A Jamaican Ode to the Spring Equinox
We don’t have spring,
summer, autumn, winter.
We live in green days
that throb with the steel-pan
rhythm of rain on zinc roofs
A Church Girl Gone Rogue
You said inside
I said no way
You said dolls
I said trucks.
Thriving
i flourish
like bougainvillea
that rustles in the breeze
outside my window
pink + plentiful
A SONG BY THE BEACH
The ocean quivers
Its heart is warm now
Its aim is as swift, and precise as a tall bird
NOT TO HAVE
A nation to be built
A noble lion as the head
And a graceful lioness
Learning and Loving Pink
I can see how stubborn a six-year-old I must have been to proudly proclaim that I would never own anything pink and to loudly declare ,to anyone who would listen, that my favourite colour was actually blue (in truth, I never liked blue that much) .
THISTLE
Your nose need not be pinched
For you were made with straight lines
Your beauty is standard