Day 28 of ✊🏾 #poems
You didn't make it a home—she did
You were never there—she was
You don't get to drown my sterling memories in Red Bulls and alcohol.
You don’t get to sully her rebel name And if it's all the same to you
I'd prefer to remember my home with her—
and leave this haunted house alone.
Day 23 ✊🏾 #poems
Growing up
I watched them dance
with hateful words
as if they rehearsed
Never repeating
the same spiteful words twice
art in motion
hands clenched
skillful seasoned boxers
Every day was a good day to fight
wrong only feels right
bc it’s necessary to survive these racist times
#bvm
Stephanie Maria
Day 26 ✊🏾 #poems #bvm #poetry
#brave
My cousin’s grandparents:
laughed with one another
spent quality time their grandchildren
Cousin:
Our stomachs hurt
joking with our grandfather
bellies full of food
bodies full of cheer
In my grandparent’s house
we had fun
In my grandma's heart
we felt safe
Me:
That was the part
that was hard to hear.
My cousins had a totally different
experience, that was dear—
fond memories,
supremely clear,
deafening to my ear.
I wish we had the same story
to share.
Day 22 of ✊🏾 #poems
She whined
whispered woes
to neighbors close by
outlining her disapproval of you
I witnessed arguments
with the other n*gga
second baby daddy after matrimony shotgun wedding, of course
her daddy didn't play that sh*t
Oh, you sleeping with two n*ggas? so she suffered consequences.
Day 20 of ✊🏾 #poems
Black families coerced to hide souls
on fertile ground at the risk of being found out
feet tied to ocean bricks
continuing an oral history
hoodwinked
by my grandmother’s grandmother’s owner
lives tied to white lies
an affront to the abused
and this is our norm
#blackhistory #bvm
Day 24 of ✊🏾 #poems
My mom suffered in that house,
soothing sitcoms silencing a stuttering tongue.
She was silent, yet strong.
A sober stepfather never remembered
his damage the next day
while her morphine-hooked mother
never came to her defense
to everyone's dismay—
my grandparents.
#bvm #poetry
Day 25 of ✊🏾 #poems #bvm
I listened
as she spoke of people
I knew but never met
Cousin:
Big iron skillet pancakes
hiding Delta syrup
test-driving biscuits
on the plate’s curb
drowning in butter
Swimming salmon croquettes
on sizzling skillets
with homemade fruit drizzles
for giggling grandchildren
Day 21 of ✊🏾 #poems
She combed her
angry afro-native curls
with an old-fashioned brush.
She complained about
the toilet seat getting stuck.
She hated the soggy, slimy
water-soaked soap by the sink
sliding through family fingertips.
Be careful not to slip
or she'd let her words.
#blueskypoetry #bvm
Day 27 ✊🏾 #poems #bvm
We had love and libations.
We had closeness and celebrations.
We had kindness and kinfolk.
We welcomed all walks of life,
all parts of the day,
and all parts of the night.
Now it’s secret snickering,
snide comments,
side eyes and damnation,
empty complaints and exaggerations.
