4maya
I know why the caged bird sings
why brown girls crave tears to dry from their bluest eyes
why I don my purple holding head high
when maya wrote me notes of hope
toni threw me rope
and alice covered my shoulders with a violet cloak
I’d slip between my sheets and between the sheets folded between
creased up covers I found the words to bring me home
where little girls who saw monsters in their mirrors
and young ones whose pink folds were torn
climbed the paper hills to reach their resurrection
I got revived in chapters slicing lives in fine pieces
fed on phrases that filled the holes in my soul
when sonia called me home girl and
taught me to toss my tunes like hand grenades
When I was holed up in cold basements
tears choking my throat
I could see through matted eyes lines long like roads
to take me past southern trees, rooted canes and concrete roads
I know why the bird sings between iron and bars
I seen light sleep behind barbed wires and stone towers
sneaking novellas between denim and skin
concealing emotional contraband
And when not even one letter will stutter from the nib of my pen
I can find fodder in the phrases of folks who had
courage to reap story in the dirty
in the corners, in the crowded closets that
threatened to smother them in shame
and I can raise my head and swim again
I lived my 40 days and still don’t know if I survived it
from floods to the wilderness, my heart’s been fair game
but to these 242 sheets I return to again and again and
Alone on grey nites or by dawn moving the morn
I’m reborn
and those same eyes, like 85, straight to the sky
re-reads each step like a brand new line
and I remember that even with weighted wings
I can still sing
I can still fly
I can still write
I can save my life
–by Motion (from 40 Dayz)
