First she painted her toenails, a rich sage with some shimmer but no glitter; glitter would be too juvenile. She painted her toes and carefully drew an acetone soaked q-tip around them which made her hand appear to have been more steady than it had truly been. This walking away thing unnerved her. She didn’t [...]
Category: poetry
Monthly Meter: November
Not much to see here folks. But this is what it is. The writerly life is not all moody coffee shops, snaps, and moleskins. fellowship/publication submissions: 2 fellowship/publication acceptances: 0 fellowship/publication rejections: 2 books: Aww, you know the story. Bleh. Secret Shame: If I talked to other people like I talk to myself sometimes, I would [...]
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Friends, Followers, Likers, please lend me your ears…
All of my social networks--this blog, my Facebook page, my Twitter--are rooms in my house. If you're here: welcome--it's nice having you over! But let's make some things plain in case they have not been made clear already: 1. You don't get to come in just because you knock. Introduce yourself and/or state your business. [...]
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Jonestown Turned 35 Yesterday
Marrow is my collection of poems about Jonestown (currently making the rounds with publishers). Many of the voices I re-imagine in it are those of black women. Why did they stay? Where would they go? Here's one answer. Why Did So Many Black Women Die? Jonestown at 35 Sikivu Hutchinson 35 years ago, on November [...]
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Monthly Meter (July, September, & August editions)
I am ridiculously behind on posting my stats. So for all 10 of you who keep track of my publication oohs and oh-ohs, here they are: July fellowship/publication submissions: 0 fellowship/publication acceptances: 1 fellowship/publication rejections: 3 books: Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde Secret Shame: I am in a love/hate relationship with Sleep. Mantra of the [...]
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8 Million Stories
This happened. Two weeks ago. And it sits with me still. Artists: y'all know how they do--waiting to be told. So I tell for now. I'll revisit it later. "There are 8 million stories in the naked city Some ice cold and told without pity." Kurtis Blow, 1984 I was standing in front of a [...]
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An Invocation for the Day
I rebuke you, poor performance, in the name of all success that ever was and may (or not) buoy, anchor, or barnacle and I cast you in the Sea of F*ckYouNess. Owned. I am not convinced that is a descriptor that will suit and so it, too, to the Sea. When I was a girl, [...]
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50 Reasons Not To Date A Poet
Well damn.
**tucks toes to save them**
It may sound romantic, but in search of that elusive metaphor, poets can be somewhat “eccentric.”
- If you date a poet everyone will think you are the jerk they are writing about.
- You will be the jerk they are writing about.
- They have an unnatural affection for book stores and office supply stores.
- They have deep conversations with Animals, Clouds, and Grecian Urns.
- Excessive use of “poetry hands.”
- Excessive abuse of “poetic licence.”
- Excessive use of “melancholy.”
- Excessive use of “dramatic emphasis.”
- They collect obscure words that have not been in circulation for at least 100 years or more.
- They insert these antediluvian words into conversations just to rebel.
- They think children’s books are sublime.
- They refuse to care where the remote is.
- All of their furniture are positioned around windows, for them to stare out for hours at a time.
- Your parents will think they are possessed.
- They are possessed.
- You…
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Forgiving the Dark
Sleep’s tentacles loose and tickling should not be the enemy nor the medicine. And when Day stands in its way, it collapses under the demand. Parables, too, reach beyond night, never stay taped with snapshots on wood paneled walls and turn history even in the present. Dreaming to understand them only means understanding will never [...]
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Ain’t Nobody’s Respect Worth More Than Your Own
"If I’d’ve gone after Charlie Simms and given him a good thrashing like I felt like doing, the hurt to all of us would’ve been a whole lot more than the hurt you received, so I let it be. I don’t like letting it be, but I can live with that decision. But there are [...]
darlene anita scott 