a lady a few shades darker
than beautiful
hasn't always the
means to announce herself upon arrival
as fully she should
in a room full of
past blood oppressors, perhaps
even a few carrying on the tradition
brown becomes a cross and a nail
puncturing already tattered skin;
a sign on her ebony forehead reading
'strip me of myself until only my clothes are left on'
'send me to sleep with my brothers
my lovers
my fathers, my uncles, my best friends,
i'm tired, can't you see?'
and sometimes, they answer her silent request
give her a new name, even farther away from the one
her father entered humanity with
give her a new form — paint over chestnut with artificial
translucence
architect a new mindset:
one that teaches her to kill herself so
they don't have to
called swallowing and acceptance and cooperation
this is an all-consuming costume; a death sentence
more than a mental state but
there are zippers
everywhere; with shaky brown fingers she
extracts herself from her personal confinement
lungs bruises and tied and tethered to lies that replaced real air —
BREATHE OUT my sufferings have not made me bitter,
BREATHE IN in or maybe they have; it's hard to come home to an empty body every night
BREATHE OUT my soul has grown weary! where is my kingdom? where is my refuge?
BREATHE IN a water holier than mine will be needed to wash my clean
yes, i do tread the valleys of the cynics, darkness, such a persuasive lady
the oxygen is better up here:
breathe in I AM A WOMAN
breathe out MY COLOR IS NOT A CRIME
breathe in MY FOOTSTEPS RECTIFY EVILS
breathe out MY SPIRIT HAS THE POWER TO SHOUT
breathe in MY VOICE IS A LIGHT AMIDST DARKNESS
breathe out I AM A FORTRESS; A REPRIEVE FOR SWOLLEN HANDS AND FEET
breathe in MY MIND IS A CASTLE
breathe out MY EYES ONE THOUSAND KNIGHTS
breathe in MY EARS A HERALD TO AN ANGEL'S MESSAGE
breathe out MY HAIR A GARDEN OF COILED FRUITS
BREATHE IN EVERY BREATH TAKES ME ONE STEP CLOSER TO HEAVEN
YOU ARE READING
OPEN-BRAIN SURGERY
Poetryshoved a needle in my brain and now my head won't stop bleeding
