January 2012
37 posts
1 tag
What It Means To Believe/ With a Full Mouth
People have told me/
that my brain is a bronzed/
drinking gourd/
with so much whistle/
so much promise/
Today I caught my own/
filament/
in a subway window and
thought/ ‘this is the
face of someone who
will win’/ and kept
staring.
I travel home/ after this
the night/ coasting on
my back/ my mother says
“you really believe/ that
this is how you will change
the world?”/ the...
“Arrogance.
I know.
It’s a big word. And it stings. But it’s appropriate.
...”
– Keep Your Heart, 3 Stacks
honestwanderlustheart asked: Your birthday! You old now girl
meaganliving asked: That poem was very captivating, if you haven't already, you should try slam. For some reason I feel like your poetry would transform amazingly from page to stage. Either way I love it.
theartis asked: Your poetry! :))
cocoabutterandbiscuits asked: i'm interested in your lipstick. tell me about it please!
Anonymous asked: Do you believe in God?
Ya Ya
Adolescence set me
up to cower in the ghost
of girls who had no concept
of what it meant to love
other girls.
Second grade met me
with gum and scissors
and “ugly” and “fat”
I took it heavy, groomed
my grill in pork fat -
side eye says “I expect
to be distrusted”,
and suddenly
my entrance into any room
is met with translucence —
women who want to eat
right through me.
...
“The fact that I
am writing to you
in English
already falsifies what I
wanted...”
– Bilingual Blues: Poems, 1981-1994 by Gustavo Perez Firmat (via lover-root)
3 tags
Defining Consciousness
Yesterday, a twitter debate with someone who was trying to convince us that Ron Paul is not a racist ended with this. “the fact of the matter is today we live in a society where you are free and we are equal. So why linger?”
Boom.
- What time is it?
- Where are you?
- (Who are you) What is your name?
Most people of color cannot answer these questions correctly. Most people will...
What if I killed someone important in my past life...
Dont judge me. O___O
Anonymous asked: Hi :) Do you want marriage? Children? Who do you see yourself marrying, a man or a woman?
dogfartsinyourcupcakes asked: nice poetryy .. real dope..
See You Here?
OFF THE RECORD
written by Akua Doku, Camonghne Felix, Joanna Hoffman & Caroline Rothstein
directed by Alex Mallory
with opening poetry by Mahogany Browne and Elliott D. Smith
Buy tickets: Sat 1/7 at 5PM - Part of our $5 at 5 Reading Series!
A man sees his dead lover on the subway. An investigative journalist loses her path. A woman struggles to reconcile her identity as a queer veteran....
Taking to Whiskey (Long Train Ride)
Here’s a tourniquet.
Wash it clean, practice your most stone
Eyes while
The red swirls the basin -
A chained tornado.
This is what childhood teaches you;
The split lip, the wash away.
“the cards play funny for everyone”
Queen, up.
Sorcerer’s heart, you’ve got -
The one that prays at the edge of the winner’s
Sword
So you know,
My dear,
That this...
2 tags
Love & Hip Hop: Chrissy to Jim Jones
Listen:
We both learned to hustle the bullet
early.
You let me hedge your empire ,
You say ‘hold this’ and my
pockets are caving but I ride
with it
early.
Childhood will never indicate
that the man who loves
you out of such bustling
wallpaper will be the one
to cripple your bridge but
god,
Jimmy,
I would crumble for you.
2 tags
Vote for my Ashley Jones Poem (Or whichever poem... →
“Ask yourself: Where am I?
Answer: Here.
Ask yourself: What time is it?
...”
– Ram Dass (via fernsandmoss)
Self Mutilation/Cutting Feels Like a Disease or an...
When I’ve finally gone a year without cutting, I’m going to tattoo 12 little birds over the scars on my left arm (since this is the ugliest arm) to signify the year that I started and the freedom of finally giving up on being bad to myself.
Statement by Obama on new Patriot Act, AKA H.R.... →
1 tag
Questions:
And if he comes with something missing?
And if every heart he’s broken becomes a mirror
in a lightless room?
And if I still can’t read him?
And if he lets his fear do all the moving?
And if the bridge of my cheek fits the
scope of his open hand?
And if I fall into that?
The doubt whisks all of the grand warnings
grandmother left for me,
“If he isn’t the window that...
smuggledportraits asked: As far as I can glean, you're a(lso) a descendant of recent Revolutionaries, besides a poet of color intimate with queer politics, mysticism, the recluse lifestyle, and fashion. Do you think this generation needs to hone in on trends more dynamically for more influential flocking and demonstration? Do poets need to sing and dance more provocatively or something to get Kids thinking more...
December 2011
91 posts
What I Learned in 2011
I learned that I don’t trust myself
to hold my own water.
I learned that I am loud
and big footed; that I
cover enough land to be
my own island. I learned that there is
nothing to gain from being
my own island.
I learned that my heart is
a swollen plank of regrets
that are not my own.
I learned to let go of
what isn’t my own
and to claim only what
bares its punctured chest
to...
2 tags
My Favorite Uncle Died Yesterday Morning
I have such a strange relationship with death. To be honest, its the most boggling concept I’ve ever been introduced to. When I was younger, it seemed a lot simpler; I toyed with it so many times, thinking that it meant finality or a close. But it is so much more dynamic than that, so much less sure than that.
It’s often said that death happens in three’s, (which does not make...
Anonymous asked: whats the most necessary trait in a partner?
1 tag
Team Assignment: "Write a poem after a poem that...
After Rachel McKibbens’ “Untitled”
[To my daughters, I need to say:]
We are the will of
the subtle winds
with melons for hearts,
all steady singing the song of
harvest.
When the one
the mouth that will liberate you
the one with the blitzed eyes
and the haughty tongue
the wanted,
the cure.
If he finds you, disrupt
every pause. Be the stone to
its pond,...
Anonymous asked: Hi. What is the source of the news of Chris Brown giving funds to Joyful Heart?
railroadunstoppable asked: Tag, you’re it! Here are the rules: Each tagged person must post ten things about themselves. You have to choose and tag ten people. Go to their blogs and tell them you tagged them. No tagging back.
Anonymous asked: Is there a list somewhere of the world poetry rankings that you were talking about?