I wish I could break all the chains holding me
Nina Simone

Today
I am a Black woman in america
cnd I am singing a melody ridden lullaby
It sounds like the gentrification of a brooklyn stoop
The bodega and laundromat burned down on the corner
The people on the corner
Lock and key their chromosomes
c note of ash and inquiry on their tongues

Today
I am a Black woman in a hopeless state
I will apply for financial aid and food stamps
With the same mouth i spit poems from
I will ask the angels of a creative god to lessen the storm
cnd I will beg for forgiveness if ever i curse
The rising dawn

Today
I am a Black woman in a body of coal
I am combustible and no one cares to know my name
I am a nameless fury, I am a blues scratched from
The throat of Ms. Nina
I am always angry
I am always a bumble hive of hello

Today
I am a cold country, a certain storm,
c heat swell and audacity of being woman

Today
I am a woman, a brown and black and brew woman
Dreaming of a freedom
Today
I am a mother, and my country is burning
I forget how to flee from such a flamboyant backdraft
I'm too in awe of how ravishing i look
cblaze