They told me my heart was too fragile to stand on its own
That it's beating
It's thumping
It's pounding
Only existed because it was held up by a man or the promise of one
I told them no
For it existed because the woman I am carries it daily and the promise of the woman I will become is what keeps it beating

And how ironic is it to try to trample a flower
But then it helps the soil birth ten more

And I pray you recognise that your sons have hearts too
And that you do not expect theirs to be like baskets and seep away all the hurt and pain

I'm fascinated with the beauty of the black man who cries rose petals when the world soils the earth
And bleeds jasmine when a woman is hurt
The black man who IS rose petals
And IS jasmine
But ISN'T apologetic

I have turned tides
when they told me all I could do was drown

Hatred isn't always knives and guns aimed at hearts
Sometimes it is fiery words in legislation that authorises the building of walls
And the banning of free movement
Sometimes hate disguises itself as safety and security but really it is still just hate

The wind carries what is not rooted,
So be like the trees
Your leaves may sway but you will remain