Poet Mode: Within

WITHIN

The us we put into the world is not the us within
If you look deep into my heart you will see me for who I am
I’m a can do woman – ready, willing and able
I’m a fearless, take no shit sistah – try me if you wanna
I’m a curvy delight – a tease or a tigress, depending on my mood
I’m a hugging, kissing healer – telling you everything will be just fine

I’m a soft, fragile being – needing to be loved
I get a yearning feeling – of wanting to feel needed
I’m sometimes afraid – of not being heard
I feel a little unconfident – about the sway of my hips
I’m often too real – proclaiming when shit is fucked up
I’m most terrified – of not being perceived as a fearless, take-no-shit kind of sistah

I am the future colored by the pasts of those who came before,
Bred by a lineage of underground railroad and lynching survivors and . . .
running through the woods gripping my child and my bible after . . .
toiling in a field for endless days and nights and . . .
then finally being granted substandard American rights


BUT I DIGRESS, let me get back to this.

The us we put into the world is not the us within
If you looked into my heart, you’d see where love begins
Love extends beyond sight, and visual assumptions
I appear to be a strong black sistah walking strong with gumption
But what I am is a person with fears the same as you
And a desire to be loved as human, female, strong, soft, black, and beautiful