which a more poignant memory that he threw me or that i fell into his arms full of glee laughing willing to go again until his limbs grown weary from tossing turned rubber and the fear of missing shown real in his eyes at 3 i could not imagine a world where he would not catch me so i screamed out ‘again’ demanding…
deliver us from evil: an epigram for modern times
raw reality, a fist slamming into my temple forces me awake. sleep, a drug of solace pulls me out of the nightmare into the fortress of my mind. stable condition. stable. condition. a massacre’s sole survivor; on the battle front of her basement. her children slaughtered before bloodshot eyes. what greater torture is this? prostrate a preference over…
a memory: untitled
are you sisters dancers, an innocent enough inquiry and had we the decency of dancers we may have left him his dignity in response indecency, however, is the occupation of poets so we in synchronized sonnet pounced dripping iambic pentameter across his abdomen like a procession of candle wax our minds weapons of mass destruction…
for my sistren, a poem
we were magnificence woman warriors armed with words piercing souls healing our own babes in tow men in awe imperfect with our flaws spewing necessary vulnerabilities a revolution in our bosom nectar sipping goddesses shat stereotypes spake stories over rip whiskey and dangling cigars sisters in arms poets, we are.
how poetry saved me from being just another ‘angry black woman’ or why i write
there was a time in my life when i was a hothead. and we’re talking the whole screaming profanities, fist drawn, feet shoulder distance apart, knees slightly bent, shoulders squared, ready to pounce and destroy rage filled angry. my primary trigger: someone i cared about was threatened or harmed. if you threatened to touch a…
why clean underwear takes precedence over the colin kaepernick ‘controversy’
i had a real conversation with a true to life white woman who votes republican. and we talking ‘i may not like trump but i’m going to vote for him because i’m a republican’ republican. it was an out-of-body experience and i realized during the conversation that i primarily only have conversations with people who…
i may hate back to school shopping but i so love my kid
i’m going to preface this story by stating: black mothers are historically known for complete intolerance of public foolishness as displayed by their children. like if you ever happen to happen upon a black children in full tantrum you will notice other black children collectively holding their breath and clinching their teeth silently praying for…
grief, community organizing, and why a clean garage can literally save the day
the fourth of july weekend of 2016 sent me through a soul searching roller coaster ride. i was more 700 miles from my home, driving with my parents and young son after having spent a weekend with my aunts and cousins in hot springs, arkansas, when i learned that 2 men more than 1,000 miles…
on holding space for single mothers at the end of their rope
“ms. o, get your boy! cause i’m three minutes off his ass!” she came huffing and puffing into my office not because she had just walked up three flights of stairs but because she had just chased her 15 year old from out of the bathroom and into his classroom. “i’m gon kill him! i swear…
i can see the elephants from here
i love the circus. and when i say i love the circus i mean i love it! i love the clowns i love the acrobats. i love the tight rope walkers. i love Love LOVE the ringmaster. I LOVE THE CIRCUS! whenever the circus is in town i’d go. i’d get ‘not quite front row’…
fearfree living 