See past my scars and imagine dewy skin that was never laced with angry fingerprints
See past my unshed tears blocking hazel drops reflecting everything I feel and think,
See gray strands and imagine thick coils of youth
It wasn’t so long ago I wore heavy braids down past
My shoulders but when he yanked me because I talked back,
I put a scissors to the roots; I was safer without my locs.
So see past the bald spots or if necessary,
Imagine me an eel, slippery through time
Imagine me a name that hovers over life’s dotted line,
Looped, cursive, never letting go of a part
Tall, proud even when all I had left was a heart
Full of dreams, even when a stuffed pocket broke away from the seams
And spilled everything on angry, filth-lined streets,
I clutch my dreams close,
Fit them where they stay firm the most
And now I want you to close your eyes and see what I could still be
Want that when you think of love, you imagine me.
Copyright (C) 2017 Karen Wright
This
is
so
incredibly powerful.
I have no words to describe the emotions that are evoked upon reading this.
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Oh goodness. Thank you so much for saying so. I love this comment.
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