Bisa Butler inspired
The Empty Cage
The future, will it be okay?
The bird
Will it escape to sing outside?
The bars and the tears
The lament and the fears
I do believe
She will break out
Her song will rise
The Princess
She has a pillar inside her
A strength to hold her a loft
Across oceans, languages, cultures,
A rhythm that will sustain her
Defiant and brave
The princess
Does not fear
the future, she rises
She will make her own way.
Your body
This is us
your covering
We surround you
This ordeal, rite of passage
This blood, like your mother
Like all women whose bodies are torn
Tears ripped away
Tearing away, the unclean
Scarring away, the unseen
Glory
The dignity
The glory of blackness encompassing
No white gaze interpreting,
Interrupting
Telling the story that needs to be told
The beauty, the boldness, the brilliance
Sewn into fabrics, patterns of distinction.
Tell this, tell this story
Tell of the rising
And One more
Monet
300 water lilies
100 Londonscapes
20 Haystacks
And thousands of palettes
A carefully controlled image;
Marketing-impressionistic-white-male-privilege
Exchanging Interchangeable women
For an esteemed reputation; erudite, master
Beauty undermined by a heart so callous
