Modern Day Janie Crawford

Tea Cake lost his sanity

when love determined his fate,

yet I yearn to be bit

overtaken by a love so feral

it unravels my spirit,

to desperately mark the death of a quiet survival

and to live in swollen lips

kissed to sweaty foreheads

in the aroma of passion

Nanny taught Janie

self-reflection is through the protection of a man

so I hope to see my future in his eyes

and instead of seeing into my soul

he see my

storm…not to tame it

but to dance in the downpour

I dream I’m the thunder he welcomes,

not a whisper in his shadow

Let him call me horizon,

not housewife,

let my laughter cry louder

than the hush of obedience

May his hands hold,

but never cage

I am not a mule of the world,

nor a porch-sitter of my own tale

So God I plead let my love be wild

enough to be wounded

So bare that angels fall down from the sky  attesting to my awakening 

so that when I speak,

the wind listens

And when I leave,

I do not shatter,

I bloom for I sought God and he sent me him who saw me and did not flinch

Psalms of a Black Girl from Cleve(land)

a broom swept over my foot today
and as the saliva from my tea‑branded tongue hit its brush
I felt relief

at Nana house she got drawers full of obituaries

men in Harlem nights suits and women pictured in their youth these folks knew her before her hips spread and carried generations
now she collects them like infinity stones

Mr. Clarke said all I have to do is be Black and die

I laughed
because being Black
is to die over and over again.

I died when Gertrude Ave
the street with the convenience store on the corner
no longer bore the trimmed grass upkeep or cotton club pops on the shelves
now that Tina got her wings east Cleveland is nor a heaven or hell just Dante's inferno; Mayor Frank Jackson's dwell

I died when Tamir Rice’s body hit the pavement
holding a toy gun

I was 12 ( so was he)
but the news called him “a young man.”

I wasn’t allowed to think of “man” like that yet;
at twelve I still thought boys like him were cute,
not dangerous


white moms held their boys a tad tighter that day,
thanking God that their Nerf guns were
just…Nerf guns.


as if plastic could pass for a bullet in a world
that sees my skin first,
that hears the echo of a trigger before a laugh
even toys are a kind of testimony,
even games are rehearsals for funerals.

I died again when Little Italy hung portraits of Sambo
and trinkets of minstrel Black jubilee
that swung in the wind like wind chimes

summoning the misery of 2020

the outstretched smile haunted me

because all I gotta do is stay Black and die

Government Shut Down

(after Gil Scott-Heron)

My father My father said he can’t wait

till I get my own apartment

says I bother my lil’ siblings too much

Been on Indeed

uploading resumes

to jobs that ain’t even hiring

And the government shut down

Got denied for SNAP today

they said try again next month

But the government shut down

Trump spoke to the president of Puerto Rico

I heard Gayle still ain’t came down from the moon

So yeah,

the government shut down

My uncle just came home from deployment

Even brought me a Warner Brothers T-shirt from Dubai

Said he’s saving for something big,

but not right now

‘cause the government shut down

Columbia College of Chicago hired a 20 something year old admissions officer

ICE in Chicago got 20 somethings

praying for they mama

Welp

Guess the government shut down

My cousin said he’ll start school next fall,

if Sallie Mae start answering calls

but the government shut down

The mailman waved from across the street,

said he’s walking overtime for free

And the government shut down

They say the stock market doing fine

but my fridge humming

like it’s on borrowed time

And the government shut down

I asked Siri for a sign of relief,

she said, “I’m sorry, I don’t do belief”

Dammit all we have is ChatGPT

And the government shut down

The pastor on Euclid said “God’s still in control” but he took a PPP Loan,

And the government shut down

Gayle finally landed from the moon and she kissed the ground

Oprah had tears in her eyes cause down here,

we been orbiting the same old tune

And the government shut down

And the people still waiting

And the rent still due

And the lights still flicker

like they trying to tell the truth

Yeah…

the government shut down.