salt. Read Free

movement
    to legitimize the defense of myself.
    i am a woman of color.
    my bones have been
    bought and sold every morning.
    so, now i carry a machete in my
    mouth.
    –– ivory

i loved you
    because
    it was easier
    than
    loving myself.
    –– runaway

as a child
    there was either
    books
    or
    pain.
    i chose books.
    –– how i became a writer

some words build houses in your throat. and they live
there. content and on fire.

you say
    ‘you are such a ‘good writer’ for a woman of color.’
    i hear
    ‘you have a better command of the english language than i
do.
    my bitterness is wild salt in my blood
    causing
    my organs to crush and weep
    and
    this is the sound of my pain.’
    –– translation | white noise

remember.
    you were a writer
    before
    you ever
    put
    word to paper.
    just because you were not writing
    externally.
    does not mean you were not writing
    internally.
    –– stories

illegitimate children
    is such a foreign concept to me.
    i was born from my mother
    and
    i am here.
    that is
    all the legitimacy i need.
    –– the bastard construct

knowing your power
    is what creates
    humility.
    not knowing your power
    is what creates
    insecurity.
    –– ego

if we
    wanted
    to.
    people of color
    could
    burn the world down.
    for what
    we
    have experienced.
    are experiencing.
    but
    we don’t.
    –– how stunningly beautiful that our sacred respect for the
earth is deeper than our rage

if i have never seen you cry.
    if you do not cry.
    if you do not value or respect the needs of your water.
    you and i can not form.
    if you can not allow your own being
    to wash over you.
    how will mine ever make it past your skin.
    –– available

beautiful
    is the highest compliment
    you
    can pay a woman.
    i watch women
    dive.
    to the ground.
    eat it.
    stand up.
    and
    smile.
    –– shame

if you can not
    hear
    them.
    ask the ancestors
    to
    speak louder.
    they only whisper
    so
    as not to frighten you.
    they know
    they have been convinced.
    coerced.
    spooked.
    from your skin.
    –– communication

weather
    is the
    earth’s
    emotions.
    she is obviously
    enraged.
    –– sentient

there
    are some wounds.
    only
    africa
    can
    heal.
    –– in us

a lie
    is
    simply a lie.
    it draws its strength from belief.
    stop believing
    in
    what hurts you.
    –– power

your words walk down my back.
    this is how
    you leave me.
    –– vertebrae

will you always be this pain in me.
    will you always hurt.

you must
    put
    healing on the list.
    the grocery list.
    the to do list.
    the night list.
    because
    you are teaching
    your
    baby
    the very same chemistry
    that
    took your eyes
    and
    heart when you were four.
    –– the list

you
    are
    your
    own
    standard of
    beauty.
    –– mirror work

make sure
    they have fallen in love
    with
    your spirit.
    first.
    your body.
    second.
    –– the fragrance of your laughter

i am often broken into language.
    whether i want to
    speak or not.

i fell apart many times.
    so.
    what does that say about me
    besides
    i live through
    wars.

my ancestors made sure
    i was born
    the color of their
    eyes.
    –– sight

have you ever
    heard
    a black woman weep over her skinmurdered child.
    it is the splitting of atoms.
    it is billions
    of
    voices screaming their children’s names
    through
    her death wail.
    –– trayvon martin ii

do you think
    calling me ‘angry’
    is an insult.
    every time you call me ‘angry’
    i hear your voice salt with guilt
    and
    i laugh.
    look how easy it is to reveal you.
    –– anger is a healthy and natural response to oppression

it’s not about making you uncomfortable.
    it’s about making me comfortable.
    –– reparations

i think one
    of the most pathological
    things i have ever seen
    is
    stabbing
    someone
    and
    then telling them that
    their
    pain and anger
    over being stabbed
    is
    making you sad.
    –– white guilt

you can not
    remain
    a
    war
    between
    what you want to say (who you really are)
    and
    what you should say (who you pretend to be)
    you mouth was not designed to eat