In Season (excerpt)
In Season
Body
is the first
fit
The original
drip
blood
Lines
the seams
of my pants
Sag
in my ancestors' clothes:
this skin
Brown and bruised
denim blue
genes
My DNA
got a bell bottom flare
this real fashion
Ain't fast
or fleeting
it's repeating–
Our history
ain't a trend
it trend sets
Transcends
time
and time again
We
are always
in season.
So they dress
in our flesh
flayed
TOO BLACK (excerpt)
My DNA
I am TOO BLACK
To be a pacifist
after all this
pain
You say I'm angry
I say I'm heavy
With my ancestors’ weight
in graves
could come out
in a million different ways
Some days
I am a vigilante
like every sheisty on the subway
ups the emotional ante
the white girls get antsy
but
My sharp edges
shape safety
barbed wire
holds me faithfully
you think I built these walls
hastily?
you think I love myself
hatefully?
You say I’m ungrateful
ask me where my joy resides
Now, what makes you worth
witnessing my joyful sides?
Why do you deserve
to see me and smile
as the world goes round
from the blood I cry?