Half hearts fulfill no dreams

Be idle today and pray
Or create furiously
Whichever you choose know that this is only the beginning to show them what we are truly capable of

So be tender with people today
For hearts are bleeding

Create enough space in your heart to forgive those that hurt you
This doesn't mean create space for them to return
Know the difference

They want me
They want my skin, dark as chocolate to melt on their tongue
They want to ******* sweetness over and over
Yet they do not want to know the history of my cocoa
Nor of how it got this sweet after years of being labelled "bitter woman"
And when I speak of that history I suddenly become less wanted
Less sweet
I return to the "bitter woman" always complaining they say
So they want me to accept their compliments
Answer when they call me "chocolate queen"
But never fully claim the title "queen"
For my chocolate although sweet is only good for a few moments as though I am an addicts dream and all I am is a fix
They want the story of my cocoa to remain untold
The story of how I was whipped beaten and almost broken
The story of how the sun scorched my bare back and the mud swallowed my tired feet
The story of how despite it all my cocoa still thrived and produced wonderlust fruit

They do not want to hear such a story, yet they lick their lips in anticipation of my fruit
My cocoa still tells its story despite this and there are those waiting with patient ears

Go the extra mile for yourself my dear
For you are worth every step

My great grandmother is gone
But when I speak
She lives once more
And when my mother tells her tales
It is as though I was present for every moment

Every moment when she spoke when she meant to be a "silent woman"
Every room she was in when she was meant to be an "absent woman"

She was vast,
Always more than expected
And always enough for herself