the idea of ida.

"I will not begin at this late day by doing what my soul abhors; sugaring men, weak deceitful creatures, with flattery to retain them as escorts or to gratify a revenge."
-Ida B Wells

limbs of trees dance
barren fruit lean, veins bulging like pulp
bitter and hanging
until dropped
the limbs
of trees
dance-
swaying in stale air
of a place
once called home

is where the heart is but there is no heart
here,
how strange their movements
how selfish
the way we use
that which allows us to breathe
we come up
short
of breath
no one cradles air
too blinded to believe
in things intangible

where do you place dreams held hostage?
imagination and aspirations
in an opaque bubble
floating in a black sky
popped by someones pointer
finger
hands
move
with broken compasses as palms
no direction
just, piles of bricks put together
hollow holes for windows
black faces fill them
they look out
they look in
they wonder about tomorrow
and cry to the clouds
scream to a sorrowful sun
it storms-
children on all fours
searching for rainbows

a decaying gift for Ida
a bleeding bow
atop a pile of ashes
deserves no thank
you
deserve
no thank you.

venus eternal.


lilac colored lady

all royalty, you hold treasures

deep beneath your bosom

a heart so expansive, the world will never understand

your need to give more than you get

the mountains on your back that weigh tons

but never seem to be too much to bear

your strength is that of soil, water, and sun

the earth bows at your movement

you bring

new life

with every gesture

new love

with every smile.

to whom it may concern.

this place does not know me. i have become
yellow, lemon, bitter about the black i am. who am i
to sit on my hands, create nothing while the streets bleed
and this does not feel
like home. is where the heart is (they say)they say
so many things and none of it makes sense. Common. Cents,
someone ask for change before change picks up a shotgun
and fires, between the nose.
eyes closed. Oh say can we see?
Bloody flag burning,dont have to be in Mississippi. our soles are red
right here. our souls are read and misinterpreted,
might as well take our heads. already lost
direction. there is no flipping coins to make decisions
there is no puzzle to be completed when pieces are missing.tired
of throwing sneakers over telephone wires.
gathering cotton filled teddy bears to replace souls taken too soon.

strength:
a flower in the wrong garden that grows anyway

in the eye of the wind there is God. this I know
and so I drift. a woman of air, foreigner
in my own queendom. some say the kings have lost
their crowns, sky no longer purple. just gray just dust
just ashes, just sadness, just joy just hope just prayer
just faith just just just justice. though this place
does not know me i know it very well. cement in my palms
songs beneath my heart, power within my locs. crafting
a new Africa, for I know warriors and empresses still remain.
if only they knew.

a great thing will happen here.
but for now, i am hideous. know that you are too.
cant turn my back on my own face. pus filled minds,
sick people. healers take off your mask. healers
take off your mask. we need you and you need you.
no time for drowning in abstract oceans getting lost
in shades that all look brown to me. get under
the clothes of each other feel flesh.dig deeper-
feel soul. dig deeper dig deeper.find we all over again.
til we become naked and new....
beautiful once more.

we.


being in love
is remembering
you have wings
jumping
without thinking
about how you'll land.

red on a gold platter.


her smiles were like frozen daggers
falling from skies afraid of their stars
dimmed heartache, a light flickering
pausing when the darkness closes in
a favorite song on repeat
a beautiful bird
something like a sparrow or dove
turned to ash

she was only five when the fire within her began
boiling hot liquid
parched throats bubbling with confusion
illusions dancing on their tippie toes
women in heels girls in pajamas that still cover feet
words that speak but say nothing
men loving. men making..love
not being able to tell the difference
everything spinning-
a one winged angel drowning in her own blood

the symphony, harsh
violent strings and blaring horns
ears too tender to bear the noise
she prays for silence
dreams of dandelions making love to the wind
wishes drifting in mid air
swings and sand
carnivals and cotton candy
a rotted decaying innocence yearning to be sweet again

fourteen with a half bloomed flower in her womb
a wonderful fragrance a sickening stench
bound together as one
they tell her to push and she cant
ghosts creep up her spine with every labor pain
blackened blood in her veins
skin shedding, flesh melting
she is all bone
watching her skeleton sway to broken music
something dreary, she is tired
of wondering about joy
blinks and dreams of gluing her lids shut
stapling the lips of her vagina so they refuse to open
hoping she will die or go crazy
maybe then she will know how to feel
maybe then she will be without the visions
fantasies of incsions made from neck to navel
slitting the throat of her unborn baby
watching it bleed and wondering
about the color red.

they dropped venus in a strange place
left her stranded and alone with the devil as a companion
he gives her gifts
a strangled peace with a red bow tied around it
secrets tucked beneath a tongue that has tasted him
when mommy was invisible
she vomits her nightmares
they smell like him
she pretends she is an actress
in a tragic play
rehearses the way she will tell her daughter
about the father they share
about the pain they share
about the little piece of happiness taken away before given the chance to learn what it means
touch it
see it
hear it
feel it
its too wrong to ever come out right.

war and love and love some more :)

asiya.



"There is a woman in somalia
Scraping for pearls on the roadside
There's a force stronger than nature
Keeps her will alive...*"

a fight
so precious
so tender
so strong
cant break her in her weakest moments
silver moon in her stomach
bright in her darkness
there is love everywhere
there is hate everywhere
burdens become so heavy
still she throws them on her back
carries the earth in her palm
with no plans to give it back
can't steal her light
she wears courage as skin
pearls are her eyes
black marbles as the center prize
the sun is shy when she's around
her shadow keeps her going
the children are hungry, and day has almost died
she moves with no worry
knows that God is on her side
cant break her in her weakest moments
silver moon in her stomach
bright in her darkness
free in their prison
claims all of everything as home
there is love there is love there is love
everywhere.


[*italics by sade]