The sky is more blue
through the tint of my glasses,
and the grass seems softer
after the rain

You say you love the view
from this garden,
and I say so do I,
but I'm looking at you

You say that you can hear my heartbeat,
I say yes, for your head
is on my chest
and my breathing is slow,
we're both at rest.
And you tangle your fingers
around my neck,
and I tangle my fingers
in you hair.

And I"m looking down at you
your forest colored eyes,
and your lips, very pink
maybe more so through the tint of my glasses
but pink all the same.

I think I'd like to kiss you right now,
But it's not the right time, and I don't know how.
I don't want to let you go,
and I think I'd like to know your soul

I see life in grey,
Where black does not stand alone without white,
Where the melanin of my skin does not factor as to how society sees me,
Where Mother’s language that rolls from my tongue is never labeled.


The only struggle I should face is between the relationships
I try to mount
...between pen and paper
…between my head and my heart.
Where common sense should trump any and every stereotype,
Where the only thing foreign is the knowledge I am yet to acquire,
Or the journeys I am yet to trudge upon.


Borne of the soil that bears some of the greatest fruits,
I am one of Her many blessings,
An Afrikan princess that is still rising to her majestic throne,
That seeks to reign over a land united
Behind the death of the rainbow;
The rebirth of decolonialism.
And casts all children of the corn of these chains,
Golden bronze bonds
That continue to enslave the people of true liberty, and prosperity.
The liberty that ascertains that no man shall ever be consumed
By their hunger for superiority.

For

I AM because WE ARE!

I wish my heart had a hand
It could write about feelings I don’t understand
If you asked me how I felt, Id know what to say
I wish my heart had a hand.

I wish my heart had a voice.
when I’m with you it’d be the most beautiful noise
that speaks when I can’t find what to say
I wish my heart had a voice.

I wish my heart had a shield
Against a love that’s just weeds in a floral field
A love that dies at the end of the day
I wish my heart had a shield.

I wish my heart had a door
So I couldn’t let strangers in anymore
That leave scars in this fragile place
I wish my heart had a door.

I wish my heart had a sign
It could warn me about the lies in your lines
So that at the end of the day I’m not torn
I wish my heart had a sign.

ok, i need to go in, i know he's there, let him not see me till i compose myself
ok i'm at my chair, working hard, oh no, he glides past me, concentrate i say
to late, his aura is to strong, need to look up, our eyes meet, smile you fool
watch him move by, heart racing, gaze trance fixed,concentratei say whew.

Please love me, although I have loved before.
Please know that even if
I have worshiped foreign hands,
Marveled at constellation eyes,
Shed tears for other minds and hearts
That tore from me some brutal, awesome love,
Know that nobody has ever made me feel safe
For any measurable length of time.
That not one of them ever stopped in the midst of kissing me to say
"You are just so beautiful."
The way you did, Lover,
2
3
4 times,
Just yesterday.
That all the flowers I ever gave them,
All the gifts and poems and artwork
All those things to show my love
Were tolerated
The way the sun is tolerated on a blistering summer day
Because to escape from it would be too difficult.
Know that I always knew that,
Felt it from them,
Felt shame for it.
And no matter how many photographs I have obsessively taken
Of a face I thought they must have molded the face of the sun after in every ancient carving,
Know that she never wanted me to see her.
And that that
COUNTS.
You looking up at me from those white sheets, Lover,
And never glancing away in embarrassment or apprehension
Counts:
Skin
Counts
To someone who has been held at arm's length for so many years.
Kisses count,
And I count them, every single one soothing the ache of the losses I never asked
To suffer.
It is true, you are not my first love.
But never have you pushed me away.
Never have you shut me down,
Never
Have you been cruel to me.
And all this
I find it counts
More than the awe I felt for those who would abuse me,
More than the fear and loss and devotion and destruction that they demanded
And then blamed me for the consequences of.
Although I have loved before,
Please, please, please love me now,
For that is something you can be
First at,
Lover.