7/30

 An Acrostic

Skin, skin, everywhere

Keeps me warm from the soles  of my feet to the ends of my hair

Even though my skin is thin, it keeps me protected

Layers upon layers my skeleton moves me, brain directed

Every which way connected by tendons and such

Touch me wrong, I just may break and require a crutch

Organisms and bones make me all that I am, healthy or sick

No matter how many times I break the count is still 206!

#DivaD #poetry #verbbenders #nationalpoetrymonth2024

 8/30

Ode to My Skeleton 

Oh my skeleton you bring me joy 

and the ability

to glide and move and dance

with elegance

no matter the pain my joints may give

you hold me altogether

my strong and sturdy skeleton.

#DivaD #napomo #napomo2024

#30for30for30 #nationalpoetrymonth #verbbenders

#writing #nationalpoetrymonth2024

I Am the Celebration

 I took myself on a getaway

Hopped in my car and drove the highway

Floated on the waterway

Sat watching the waves from the bay

Soaked in all the sun rays

I could that day. 

Autumn

prime colors

cool breezes

falling leaves

shed skin

it's a new discovery

that we sometime miss

we have for too long

let others rob us and 

then dismiss us

not even taking the time 

to understand

but what's worse is

we have deprived

ourselves of knowing ourselves

this season has brought about

a painful

uncomfortable change

yet when looking back

I still realize I've come a long way

and tomorrow, tomorrow is 

a brand new day.  

Hope Breathes

 Hope has teammates

a posse even if you will

and they are not always 

grouped together riding into view

but trust and believe they're on the way

to rescue, comfort and fight for you

hope is very much alive

and she might well be an illusion 

seeming like she's just out of reach

somewhat hard to grasp

but she's powerful, positive and poised 

and time will bring all the good to pass

faith will ride in like a mighty wind

and dry your tears 

while blasting your fears

charity will comfort you with

the strength of self worth and love

and Jesus himself will watch you from above.

A Divine Appointment

 A simple moment of turmoil

rolled us into a day, a week , a month and a year

of darkness 

where no one hears our words

because they've been deceived

by a miserable, unhappy soul

we dream 

we cry

we ask in prayer

for strength to climb

out and over into the brilliant

existence that has been promised us

and then one day it happens

an angel crosses our path

delivering the morsel

that is needed to empower

uplift and free us from the

stronghold of everything dark

A Letter to My Mother

Dearest Momma
You have loved me
since you heard that
I was growing
in your womb
and today
your love
has propelled me
into a life
that imitates
you
I aspire to be like
you in every way
that has always
been planted in my
being
I remember days
when I would be asked
what do you want to be
when you grow up?
with no desire to attend college
I wanted to be
a wife and a mother
just like you
I have arrived at this place
and now I'm in college
and you support me
Dearest Momma

The Art of Nurturing

It's like this
you have a
canvass
you can't rush the finished
masterpiece
by throwing paint at it
you must use a brush
and yet finger painting
is so intimate
strokes
and caress
the life into it
you have to focus
your energy
with deliberate
love
words
and colors
that soothe
and strengthen
the corners of your
painting must be
strong enough
to hang
in society
when you put
down
your brush
nurturing is
an art
perfect
your
craft

Some of My Favorite Verses

Luke 6:

Love for Enemies

²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

I have enemies even if they're only jump offs of Satan himself. I don't always know their individual look but I know that spirit. So when I find it hard to say nice things I just pray and it's sometimes difficult to articulate in the natural, therefore I speak in my prayer language knowing that the Holy Spirit will only translate the good of my heart.

Some Of My Favorite Verses

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. #Biblegateway

God is not hiding from me or you. What a high? To know that I have sought after someone who is highly visible and doesn't even consider hiding from me. I'm in love.

My Flesh #5

My eyes are wide open
how I wish they were closed
and I was deep in sleep
then when morning came
and I rose
this would be a nightmare
played out solely
in the recesses of my
unconsciousness

My eyes are wide open
and my heart is bleeding
on the inside of me
for the mother who
cries as her child lies
in plain sight
struck by a hatred
disguised

My eyes are wide open
as a look to heaven
wanting to ask
why my God why
nothing I tell her will
ease this void
violently imposed
this fateful day

My Flesh #4

As I cry
I rejoice
for I believe
with all of me
as hard as it is
to accept the
end result
our children
are having a new kind
of fun
over the moon
circling the sun
in the midst of
heat theirs is a cool
relief

As I cry
I rejoice
for I believe
the devil had to
get permission
to take Trayvon
out of this world
in order to usher
him into the next

over the moon
circling the sun

My Flesh #3

My skin
screams for justice
just as his voice
cried

It's truth
he died
in a fight
unfair

Makes no difference
a tree
a gun
a river
or the
sidewalk

His blood
left his body
and hit the
ground

My skin
screams for justice
just as his voice
cried

How the memory
of my ancestors
looks
at this America
in disdain
relived pain

Our sons
are gone
from this walk
we are propelled
to gather together
just as
we gathered together
for the cause
of humanity and justice

My skin
screams for justice
just as his voice
cried

My Flesh #2

As long as our skin is darker than most
mahogany brown
blue black
or African
we shall see harder days
but joy awaits
with our heavenly gaze

As long as our skin is darker than most
fitting in will be difficult
at best
looking for our place
of comfort
in this land will seem
to be elusive
as sandcastle
on dry land

As long as our skin is darker than most
we will have
to school our children
on how to simply
walk to the store
for candy and soda
shall we go two by two
I think so
but even this is no guarantee

As long as our skin is darker than most
I'm going to make sure that
death will be stared in the face
life beyond the clouds will
be a final resting place
because God will be the
final judge of where and when
we open our eyes a second time

Another Ship Won't Do

It runs deep
the root of the soul
of a people
snatched by the life
and limb
from the humble
abode of what they called
home
to be dragged
through resistance
to travel a road
never known
seen or heard
the words said,
go back where you
came from
with no thought
to the remembrance
of ancestors past
who transported
the masses
to a land
we never dreamed of seeing
slaving over or serving
where we come from
is no longer
a choice
we have to be
comfortable
where we are or
die
trying
crying
praying

My Flesh

My flesh says what you say
I hear your
screams
for blood lost,
and I shed tears
at the thought of
dead justice

My reason says
this could have been avoided
in so many ways
blood lost
shed tears
dead justice

My motherhood
says I've lost my child
my heart grieves
but he's safer now
can I change tomorrow
for some other mother

My Spirit says
be comforted in knowing
God will take care of
the unjust as well as the peace makers
trailblazers
and the martyrs
blood lost
shed tears
dead justice

My flesh wants what it wants
retaliation
vindication
annihilation
but that makes me no
better than the
oppression
disguised
as self defense

I Wrote A Book

There's a reason why
I'm not dating
If I could take all the
credit
for my singleness
I would
But I choose to
call it like I follow
the path of destiny
for every other aspect of my life
so with that I say
God has taken me on
a majestic carpet ride
as a sojourner
a world
stateside traveller
three years of globetrotting
to find my way back to
the lone star state
to reunite
with my babies
my girlfriends
and my mate

A Book

when I come across slavery
of any year
by any name
I feel some kind
of way
like a raging
mudslide
or a rupturing volcano
I am filled with anger
rage and emotion
but alas
I cannot change
the past yet I pray
for the future
as do the others
who see as I see

Rhyme This

Artistry has many forms
find yours
and keep it close to your heart
I am creative energy
uncontainable
I inspire
I ignite
excite and unnerve
My initiative puts me out in front
of the rest
and intimidates
That's what they told me
creating a stirring up of the
masses
But no one's on my time, on my side
they perpetrate camaraderie
A façade of a relationship
yet when I'm alone I'm reminded
Of my army, the size of the heavens
Now that's wide

Mountain Climber

They gave it to me or so they believe
I took it and ran with it
They set me up to
Fail
By the mouth, the hand and the foot
They didn't expect me to excell
Nor to learn how to use it
Or so they believe
I've been at this life for decades
Can do it by heavenly degrees
I surpassed their expectations
I have succeeded in ways too bold
For words
And I'm loved by the masses
But conformed to the One
They admire it in me
Yet they're scared of it too
Set me up to fail and if they're not
Careful I'll be the force that
Blows a hole right through.