Is it possible to waste words  To have them fall from the sky  Like gifts  Perfect in their sacred  Profoundness  To feel the weight  Of their intensity  Grab at your heart  Coax tears  Create laughter  Take your hand  Lead you in the slowest of dances  Enlighten you with tales  That are yours  But not you  Give sounds  To the silent spaces  Between thought and action  Allowing you to breathe  While yet drowning  Giving y...

I am bathed in my own morals On the curve of the beachIn the damp sand Where the water rises to greet And then slips silently awayEbbs and flows Under the oblivious light of the moonThe wind fingers my hairBut offers no armsI am alone with my lossesAnd my painsSo subjectiveIs regretAn ache that progressesOnce it states its claimIt clamps down on the heartProhibits the normalcy of just ...breathing I am my own cautionary t...

I am a lover of words.  I like  What they do to my tongue.Each letter  Whispers its own tune  To me,  When spoken together  A song. Like love,  How it opens the lips,  Extends the tongue,  Closes with a kiss,  Sounds hopeful. How the letter O,  When accentuated,  Can leave you breathless.  The entire face must work together  To form it. Fuck…feel...fight…fun… How do you make  Sex?  You fall short of gritting your teeth. ...

"We won't let them call it a break down this time,"  She says,  Wiping imagined stray hairs from my brow.  I want to laugh.  I want to cry.  I want to scream.  Medication is bliss.  I wonder their names.  I cannot control my lips,  Let alone form words.  So, mother you have won. What am I without my words?  My life's time consists of responses,  Under breath and at the top of my lungs,  To you.  I fight for the “I” of eac...

Diaspora  She asks me if I know what this means  Like the seeds of a dandelion  Blown by the harsh winds of intention versus expectation  I am a black woman and the seed  Is the marrow of my spine  The wind has caught in the thickness of my hair  Lifting me to this place among pale faces Liminal Being  She asks me if I know what this means  When I catch the sea at high tide  I will drift to my people in familiar waters  T...

I used to think that My heart Was strength Those muscled walls pump life Through my veins and arteries Without help or direction An Involuntary act of nature Like a whirlwind That I could neither capture nor hold My heart roams free Runs deep Beats from pure passion Loves hard Expands and captures Envelopes you Breeds hope What you lack It provides with its over abundance I assumed I was created to give and share What els...

When does a poem begin  And where does it end? Does it swoop down like a breeze  To swirl around the ankles  Of a pubescent girl  With knock knees? Is it there the seed begins? Does it shiver  In the pit of her groin  At the whisper of him near?After months, just short of nine,  Does it unsheathe its face  And gasp for air  As it cries out  With the induced pain  Of a man’s hand? How many words does it collect  And discar...

In the Spring  I made you strawberry shortcake  I doubled the berries  Topped it with the creamiest of creams  I watched you savor its flavor  Took your compliments to heart  For you I’d bake a thousand cakes  Cook a hundred meals  Every day, for the rest of my life  I savored you  You were my delight, my daily dessertSummer came  Heat swept through my kitchen  Like the sandstorms of the dust bowl  In the sweet drippings...

Oh my love  My Sisyphus  Content to struggle up the crag  To feel the ache of limbs  Limbs extended in one effort  Toward an endless goal  Such bliss  To stand at attention  Wind smoothing the wildness of your hair  Having sown your oats righteously so  Knowing  Down and up you shall go  My envy reaches out to you  Like the dove you are  Returning  Having found the twigOh my Sisyphus  How can I tell you  That I cannot sta...

I was just sitting there,  Thinking of all the things  I have not experienced,  Watching the sun drift through the sky lights  Of a short ceiling— As it laid  Stunningly bright rays  Across the golden glow of your skin,  While dancing across those deep,  Sea green eyes  That are suddenly staring completely through me.God should never have created such eyes,  Such temptation. They are like the fleshy part  At the end of yo...

I would say  That I could turn the darkest skies  The brightest blue.  And, maybe  When you were younger,  Your feet unsteady,  You would have believed that I could.  But, I am powerless.  All that I have is  The strength of my love,  The length of my arms,  The power of my intentions,  My ability to give. I fail many times,  Fall short of your ideals,  But I also rise up  From darkness  To light  For you. I realize I am...

If I were near you, Lying beside you, You would have awoken to the feel of my lips on your body, The pull of my tongue and the wanderings of my hands Devouring you, Me tasting the sweet saltiness that is my reward Sparing not a drop I would be the sun that rises to meet you. You would flourish fully in my light. I would have fitted myself against you perfectly, Spread myself and wrapped my intentions around you. There wou...

Just because she doesn't cry,  Doesn’t mean a thing.  What she’s piddling with  Is a hainted heart. Sometimes tears  Can't cause a river  Deep enough for a woman  To dip her haint of a heart in  --Not when she has lived too long  In such a short time. What is the purpose of a tear  If not to soothe? A woman can grow dry  Inside  Like burnt leaves,  Discarded among dead roots  Of hollow trees  Leaning naked in the wind.  N...