Poetry Series: Therefore We Can Be Free (Part 3)

November 11, 2018 · Archives, Featured, Poetry + Short Stories

“The white fathers told us, I think therefore I am; and the black mothers in each of us-the poet- whispers in our dreams, I feel therefore I can be free”…

“The white fathers told us, I think therefore I am; and the black mothers in each of us-the poet- whispers in our dreams, I feel therefore I can be free” —Audre Lorde, from Poetry is Not a Luxury

I aim to write a series of poems centered on the real and imagined landscapes of Chicago. While poetry isn’t often thought of as news, poems, more than anything, describe the truth of the world around us. While truth can come out of diligent and factual reporting, it can also be revealed by a few honest words that intimately and imaginatively give language to the unseeable pain and joy present in Chicago. There is so much more to Chicago than the fact of it and its events, there are universes of feelings that come out of the landscape we live in that break the bounds of reality.

adolescence

growing up is best        black    lonely      i am almost twenty    i dont want to get on the L right now          met four people i don’t like in a row  they got  freckles  road trips to idaho a major in the sciences        1:21 am           i got some wine              and a                                  good view of complicated young ass   motherfuckers  from my window all slit eyes teeth        shit faced  ungrateful     9/11 was two days ago   they wouldn’t know          but i saw something on the TV                             long walk home                         air mattress says hello

broke fan says hello     how many times i say i be getting old     and alex still dont like
the pics       and hands      still empty              cept this laptop                        hemp oil
machete           ring of milk

Next poem…

Part 1| Part 2