black girl diaries (4): emergency

i’m not the one to sound alarms
when there’s not an emergency,
when nothing ’round me would cause harm
or initiate urgency.

a crash, a boom, a slam, a bang,
the explosion of someone’s voice
can leave me grasping for somebody
to give me another choice.

it’s all at once, it’s always been,
and i know it always will be,
but every time i think of this
i wonder how this world is free

since i’m not made to handle things
of multitude, for i am just
a person with a complex mind
of particles that come from dust.

and who really isn’t just that?
is anybody else around
to witness nature’s caveat,
the deaf’ning, overwhelming sound?

because i know i’m not alone,
but it truly does seem like so
when i go in search of my own
and all i get is told to go.

so what to do in such a state?
a person who is nothing but
as moved and living as the late
can only pull their eyes closed shut.

unless, of course, there was a hand
to hold and have and know and pass
through all the hurt and turmoil that
come with this life, this knowing path

of crashes, booms and slams and bangs,
of letting that heaviness hang,
of knowing even on your own
you’ll never truly alone.

emergency! emergency!
a social peril, a dire need

to be together, joined at once,
to fight the good fight attonce

black girl diaries (3): marriage

“to have and to hold,”
but what is left in my arms if not empty platitudes
if i forget to take action with my love.

i’m made of the dignity i was born with,
of the earth beneath me, the sky above me,
the insects and mammals and fish around me,
of the people around me.

i am tied to them forever.

with all of my dreams of leaving myself behind,
as long as there are others i will always be here.

marriage is a promise to another
and the public
that someone’s story will be a part of yours,
has been a part of yours,
for better or for worse.

i am married to my past, my present, my future,
to my former footsteps and the dirt that surrounds them.
i am married to my loved ones, my peers,
and those who will never love me back.
i am part of something greater, something better,
something bigger than me or anyone that i could think of.

marriage, really, is everywhere and in everything that you can think of.
just like love, and just like hope.
i will have this peace. i will hold my loved ones.
now and forever.

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the boundless curve of light kissing glass, the horizon line stretched as far as the eye can see, bowing away from the edge of light where atmosphere met space, the bluest of blues reflected in the three-fourths of an inch of glass that separated him from the unforgiving void. here, the unfettered sun blazed, burning away even the thoughts of a shadow. there was no sound but the rasp of his own breath, the pulse of his blood in his chest. it was terrific. terrifying. the awe never faded with each trip; he glanced down again at the planet’s surface, lingering, wondering, and a giddy dizziness washed over him, a sensation of the surface coming up to swallow him whole, to cradle him between vast arms of mountains and churning seas. here, at the edge where gravity’s grasp fell away, at the cusp of an endless void of air, he looked into the wild blue yonder. he breathed in, held; he breathed out. he was going home.

~Sappy Daze~ Day 27

Pretty Little Girl
                      - after Ocean Vuong

Look at her, isn’t she pretty?

Where she’s from, it’s normal to eat fish eyes.

Keep your eyes on her. 

Don’t get too close.

She will soon burst into flames and try to burn you down.

Is this a blurry memory of my dreams or did I dream of someone’s blurry memories?

Oh, I wish she would say something. 

Then I can check that she’s taking deep enough breaths.

That there’s still something left in her little body.

It’s almost like she’s tired of us talking about her.

Why are you crying? 

Oh, no. I’m not drunk, girl. 

I just don’t believe you’ve died. 

The sadness in me ends in her tonight.

- Sappy

~Sappy Daze~ Day 25

College Ingredients

A hint of spicy imagination (adjust to taste)
Some citrus zesty energy
1 stick of buttering professors up
2 slices of cheesy lines that weren’t very sharp
1 classroom of crushed egos after a final
4 punches from bitter grades
7 shots of sugary drinks
1.5 cups of floored college kids on a Saturday morning

- Sappy