Push

We learned to push love away through mimesis
We saw early
Our fathers and brothers second us to their cars and gods
Our tenacious rhythm of articulating our womanist sensibilities
Through double Dutch chants and house play with candy cigarettes
"That muthafucka betta have his ass home tonight"
Puff puff pass
Why did we have to choose a struggle
Be black or be woman
Like color and pussy don't connect
Be gay or be Christian
Like love and religion ain't the same
Fuck nasty or be wife
Like legs wrapped so squeeze 'round my man's dick say I ain't his Queen
Hair nappy or bone straight
Like how steady my comb stick say whether I can fight a dog off my back
What you know about where our lives intersect
Like we can't have faith and be afraid
Like we can't forgive and remember how dirty you played
Like we can't be devil afraid of our reflections
And look into our eyes at the same time
And know how magnificent we are