Never gon’ be president
Hey Pete
Poor kids
*cough* black
In poor neighborhoods
*cough* black
Aren’t living lives
Without role models
Without value on education
Without aspirations
Greater than America’s boot on our necks
Tells us we should have
(Read More)
LET ME GIVE YOU A GUN
Let me give you a gun
Because you have the right
To bear arms
Go ahead
Murder babies
In Sandy Hook
And teenagers
In Parkland
And music lovers
In Vegas
And employees
In Aurora
And Shoppers
In Walmart
And children on the streets of Chicago
Let me give you guns
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Caravan
I am walking
Thousands of miles
Towards a hope
That I know hates me
In weary arms
I carry my world
On my shoulders
I carry my dreams
On my hip I carry my legacy
I carry them
Hungry
Tired
Afraid
Confused
I carry them
From certain death
From daughters
Ripped from beds
Raped and forced into prostitution
(Read more)
art by Sage Smith
Backpacks
When black boys are born
We mothers kiss their faces
Twirl our fingers in their curls
Put them in carriers on our chest
Show them to the world
Our tiny black princes
And when they start school
As early as 3
We mothers
Place huge back packs on their backs
And we slowly fill them with bricks
Etched with tools
Tattooed with truths
Hoping to save them
Don't talk back
Don't get angry
Say yes ma'am
Say no sir
Don't fight
Even if they hit you first
Especially if they are white
Do your best
Better than best
(Read more)
And The Light Dims
Little girls are light
The moment we know
Our wombs house them
They become our glow
We wrap them
in pink blankets
brown skin
radiating love
And soon
When the words come
So do the questions
Can I have this doll
The one with the yellow hair
And blue eyes
She's beautiful
Can I be beautiful
Can my pony tail hang down my back
Why can't I have hair like her
And the light dims
(Read More)
art by Sage Smith
art by David Anthony Geary
CATCALLER
Catcaller: what dat mouth do
Me: talk shit
Catcaller: what dat p***y taste like?
... My p***y tastes like justice
Like revolution rolled into
cinnamon-dipped
Honey mango-coated sweetness
To help you swallow bitter black hate
My p***y tastes like
power
purpose
and peace
My p***y tastes like
knowledge
and passion
Universe flavored
Seasoned with star dust
My p***y tastes like infinity
She is alpha and omega
The beginning and the end
My p***y tastes like Genesis
It leads
It rules
Even her whispers are shouts
My p***y tastes like
command
Inspiration and integrity
A compass for more than your phallus
My p***y directs your soul
(Read more)