The bead princess left Virginia for beloved
Early sky kisses melanin/ inkโs promise
Pressure shows you the births promise
dendrochronology changes corse pierced misdirections guidance
Cracked nipples meet lips: life force
Solemnity: Gold blushes when she enters
If the gift cannot listen: leave
Pallet desk: telescope captures rings falling
You asked for devotion: node nome
Scribes script saintly squishes slight squeals
Keys to the blueprint return to kemet
Adrienne Belair (she/her)
This one is for the black queers
Whose mother tongue is shade
It was our mother's who taught us to monetize our lungs
They dealt in gossip like it was a rich man's trade
While they got their hair pressed
It was their friends they undressed
Stripping them of any dignity and privacy
We learned that children should be seen and not heard
So we sat back and observed
How to fight with out words
This one is for the black dykes
Who jammed their legs into coral skirts
Just so their mothers wouldn't endure whispers in church
So every Sunday we would endure
Thoughts of sickness we could not cure
Even though we were sure
Touching her would feel like praying
Direct communication
With a God we'd lost faith in
We created the entire culture
From jazz to hip-hop to rock-n-roll
I'm not saying this to be conceited
It's just the truth
Look it up:
From sister Rosetta and Sylvester to Mr. Laughton Hughes
You may hate us
But you canโt replace us
There ain't nobody flyer than us
This one is for the black queers
I never had any thoughts about how poetry happens until I wrote this poem. I had kept the first two lines of on this poem in the back of my mind for months, trying to come with something to go with it; something to do with word play as a form of currency. Then one day as I was walking down street and the whole poem came to me. Maybe for me poetry is Platoโs idea of memory. Recollection, he called it. Itโs the idea that all knowledge exists within all of us. All we have to do is remember it. Poetry for me serves as a way to remember the things I forgot about myself. I always known I was queer, but I was afraid what that meant. So, I willfully suppressed it and forgot about it. This poem is remembrance of that fear and the joy that happens when you push past it.
Phoebe Fico (she/her)
This one is for the black queers
๏ปฟI never had any thoughts about how poetry happens until I wrote this poem. I had kept the first two lines of on this poem in the back of my mind for months, trying to come with something to go with it; something to do with word play as a form of currency. Then one day as I was walking down street and the whole poem came to me. Maybe for me poetry is Platoโs idea of memory. Recollection, he called it. Itโs the idea that all knowledge exists within all of us. All we have to do is remember it. Poetry for me serves as a way to remember the things I forgot about myself. I always known I was queer, but I was afraid what that meant. So, I willfully suppressed it and forgot about it. This poem is remembrance of that fear and the joy that happens when you push past it.
Phoebe Fico (she/her)
This one is for the black queers
I never had any thoughts about how poetry happens until I wrote this poem. I had kept the first two lines of on this poem in the back of my mind for months, trying to come with something to go with it; something to do with word play as a form of currency. Then one day as I was walking down street and the whole poem came to me. Maybe for me poetry is Platoโs idea of memory. Recollection, he called it. Itโs the idea that all knowledge exists within all of us. All we have to do is remember it. Poetry for me serves as a way to remember the things I forgot about myself. I always known I was queer, but I was afraid what that meant. So, I willfully suppressed it and forgot about it. This poem is remembrance of that fear and the joy that happens when you push past it.
Phoebe Fico (she/her)
What is your experience in your skin? - The more I spend time noticing my skin, the more there is to explore. It is an endless array of self discovery which usually concludes with me feeling closer to myself.
What is your experience in your body? - It is difficult to be in times like this and be at peace with your body, documenting myself at different times in different ways has helped me see things about myself that I normally would fail to notice or appreciate.
How did it influence your existence and who you are today?- The way one feels about their skin and body holds its influence in the deepest way possible. It seeps into your confidence level, self image, anxiety etc. Mine is a journey that started with a lot of self doubt and has been reaching a more secure and self assured place.
