my mama always told me i would be just like her
and for some of you that's an honor
but my mama was different
oh baby you look just like your daddy
cool i look a felon
i see your attitude Niesha
it's just like mine
mama i don't want this rage
i don't want to be called your "white girl"
i didn't mean it like that Niesha
what i meant was you act "white"
mama i didn't know using manners
were the qualifications of a "white girl"
i didn't know 7 year old hands were meant to change diapers
and cook ramen
on the stove
mama what if i burn myself
draining the water
Niesha i don't know who
you're raising your voice at
this isn't your
grandmas house
no mama
i didn't mean it like that
please don't get the belt
don't cry Niesha
ill do it again
betty boop comforters
covering the welts of the
"white girl"
but i knew i needed to cover
my sister
two twin beds pushed together
separated by gray stained sheets
here Charlaye
this blanket is for you baby
Niesha get the kids ready for school
you're gonna be late
Officially Missing You by Tamia
blares in our ebony scented home
she told me never to bring ivory
in the house
mama i can’t help it
can i have braids like the other girls
Niesha you aren’t black
no mama i just want braids
i didn’t know only black girls could have braids
mama i thought i was black
flash forward
9 year old girl
woken by police sirens
man do i love the
colors
red and blue
mama they don’t have a warrant
don’t let them in
flashlights burning me and my sisters eyes
where’s the man that beat your mama
mama are you okay
her front teeth missing
now filled with a golden grill
he will never steal from us again
“white girl”
are you okay mama
Niesha get out of my face
i just wanted to see if you were okay mama
go outside and play with your cousins
no mama i don’t like them
don’t you say no to me Niesha
9 year old body bordered with bruises from boys with my blood
DONT TOUCH ME THERE TIQUECE
i didn’t know your 13 year old
hands were meant to touch
the hidden secrets under
my little pony *******
it’s okay Nie Nie
they do this in the movies
TY I don’t want to be
an actress
in your movie
DONT TOUCH ME THERE
TIQUECE
my mama always told me i would be just like her
mama i don’t wanna have an ultrasound on my swollen belly at age 15
i don’t want to spend my 16th
birthday in a mortant plate hospital room
filled with “it’s a girl” birthday balloons
but guess what mama this
“white girl”
made it past April 8th 2016
and i blew out my own
birthday candles and i wasn’t in
a hospital room.