Whisper

When a woman whispers a prayer for you
When she folds the thought of you
Into her clasped knuckles
When a woman closes her eyes
And sets your face next to her list
Of loves and blessings and questions
Know that this is the best pome she will create

When a woman offers her breath as tithe
She is giving the story of her life
May she ever be protected in your hands
Hold her humble like the sky holds the clouds
This is your blessing

When a woman knows her scripture is sacrosanct on your tongue
You have earned a friend bigger than the moon
Stronger than a lion
This is your portion
This love
This kind of ease

Breathing

I'm so easily irritated and overwhelmed today.

A poem a week for 2017 - for week 8 - Black trans sisters

I will say your name
Your whisper of a name
Leaves me breathless
I will call you a girl
A woman
A prayer a poet a breath
I will see you

You did not deserve this death
This dragon life
Killed for the audacity to be yourself

We owe you a life
We owe you a flood
Your life mattered
The way you left this world mattered
And says something about the horror
Of who we are

I will say your name
Ciara McElveen
Chyna Gibson
Keke Collier
Mesha Caldwell
Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow
Jojo Striker
There were others before you
May your ghosts be at rest
May we be strong enough to kill only
The weakness of hate in ourselves
I will pronounce all the syllables of your name
Know you like my blood
Like you
Are me

A poem a week for 2017 - for week 7 - For the love

just loving myself / just being so good to me / cause I deserve some good just like you do too / over here breathing / just in and out letting go what don't do me no more good / sitting here singing songs to myself and writing some too / my hand on my belly / going up and down like a rollercoaster / loving myself / all by myself so I can love you too / so I can give all this so good good lovin to somebody else if they want it / if not I'll just go on my way / my love is good enough for me

just watching the clouds / one look like my face / look like / look like a family reunion / way they come together to make a storm / ain't life grand / ain't it so good / don't bad things happen right on time then go away when they should

releasing / just letting it go / watching these tears fall to my feet / my ugly toes so pretty to me now / all of me so good to me now / take off my shoes run olive oil between my toes / don't it feel good / don't I deserve it / don't you too

Self care day. Chicago.

It's 5:05 pm and I am at home. I am taking some self care actions by just being quiet and alone and in touch with my feelings. I'm much better today. Yesterday I was filled with anxiety. Had a headache and crazy panic attacks. I read something on Facebook the other day that described my anxiety so well. It said something like "Anxiety is feeling like you have to solve all your problems right now." That's how I felt. Thankfully with the sun came the ability to separate everything I was worrying about and break the mountain down into ant hills. Some things I even realized weren't even worth my time and worry. I'm glad because I need the space in my head for other things. Like art and mothering and life and work and love.

Right now I am getting ready to go to Chicago. I leave in the morning and will be there for the weekend. I'm going to another Womanpreach event. I am so honored to be the artist in residence for that organization. That's another post though. What's on my mind right now is a poem I am trying to write about all of the transgender women being killed across the country. I've read about I think seven so far. One is too many. They are women of color and killed by our brothers. It makes me sick. How can you call yourself "conscious" and "woke" and still be a homophobe? You can't that's how. The poem hasn't formed yet but I'm working on it. I want to read it Friday at the show in Chicago. Right now it's called Chyna Doll Dupree Gibson is the fifth transgender woman killed in 2017 - Say her name. I know it's a long title but that's what it is right now. Gonna get back to work.

Love yourselves.