how to lose a black girl
tell her she too wild
that the thunder in her tongue frightens you
unravels you from your core
you wish to tame a calmer storm
tell her she is too loud
that you don’t want to hear her voice
in prayer while you sleep
you’d prefer her softness
you’d prefer holding her broken pieces
some in each hand
cause you can manage her better that way
tell her you can’t handle her when she whole
black girl with hair you still say looks like cotton
cause you ain’t found a better way to describe her beauty
without putting her back in her place
she reminds you of your mother
though you’ll never admit it
tell her you got her flesh in your teeth
but you still hungry
you tasted Seychelles on her thigh
and Kingston on her lips
spoon fed yourself her Deep South
yet you still crave something whiter
tell her that her sunrise hurts your eyes
that she should just stay inside
cause you need her to look less like the reflection
you see when you look into your mirror
tell her that her body ain’t really hers
that her value don’t go beyond body count
there is no freedom for her
she is the mule of the world
and the fate of black folks been strapped to her back since birth
tell her she is too strong
that you hear negro spirituals when she speaks
the rush of stampedes in her feet
naah, you need her meek
tell her she can only fight for you
she has been littered with bullets too but
can only go into these streets chanting his name like gospel
we all know you forgot to sayhername today
yea, sayhername
tell her she has already been forgotten
you wanna know how to lose a black girl?
it’s simple
just ask a black girl if she ever been lost before
do not desire me, imagine me (revisited)
a love letter to Black women
as skin
i knew a girl once who massaged bleach
onto her midnight body
like she was kneading barro negro figurines
like if she molded herself just right
she could erase her blackness
stop her eclipse skin from feeding on melanin
i wanted to reach out to her
my sister to the night
i wanted to hold her close, let her know that
although the sun is unforgivingly beaming
our skin is fertilized by god’s smile
that sunshine – it darkens the flesh
makes the hair grow from our scalps
like wildflowers
so do not desire me, imagine me
as hair
coiled, thick, ancestral kinks
gather at the roots – fly towards the sun
like the butterfly leaves of a mopane tree
the lightness of dandelions in my afro
the waves that hang from the head like waterfalls
whatever it may be just
don’t tell me that my natural hair just ain’t for me
see, do not desire me, imagine me
as body
adamantine
a diamond’s luster
i birthed humanity
and gifted my midwife with sapphires
i nurse my children with breasts
laced with emeralds
cradled babies in arms
draped in pearls
and adorned my hips with rubies
just because i wanted to
do not desire me, imagine me
as earth
the feet of my people
grounded in our motherland
i walk the path of the women
before me
before them
and we gone keep on
for the culture
so no
do not desire me, imagine me
as god
you can find your redemption in me.
Blackness under Erasure
And they came to me and said
you’re too
black your
cotton hair too thick
fear us
our whiteness
will blind you
therefore
be
nothing or be –
and I said
and soon they pulled the trigger.
Do Not Desire Me, Imagine Me
As Hair Coiled, thick, ancestral kinks gather
at the roots with the lightness of
dandelions –
As Skin Smooth brown, the sun is
unforgivingly beaming
As Body Adamantine:
a diamond’s luster
As Earth The feet of my people grounded
in our motherland
And with open palms, imagine
As God You can find redemption in me.