My grandmother’s hands have massaged tired limbs and weary hearts they have cleaned homes, swept floors, toiled grass roots in cemented lands laid bricks and mortar that paved the road to freedom. My grandmother’s hands have coddled bodega lotto dreams like her new born child they are lamb’s wool on the naked skin of future generations. My grandmother’s hands have clasped arctic tenement floors shielding 5 … Continue reading My Grandmother’s Hands
Reflections of a life spent crouching corners, dingy couches in smoky lounges Searching for the next willing participant to play this game To implant my seeds with no real regard to consequence Severing ties in barren wombs Terminating life Never expecting you to blossom from unfertilized potential Another addition on my black list of shame No intentions to call, never even knew your name … Continue reading Eulogy
I am Statue of Liberty tall and I will not bow down/ Just because you feel inadequate/ I am the Caribbean sky dressed in golden hues of ambition you wish you could lay under/ A daughter of royalty/ And so I shall act accordingly
For your rippled waves
have awakened dormant dreams
that once flowed through me
like the great Nile River.
Through parted waters
and into the desert of infancy
I found myself again.
I valued myself again.
I loved myself again. Continue reading The Waters Within
Tonight I want it to rain blades of nostalgia that pierce through my skin washing away every memory we created~ Purging my body of the toxins that remained after you infused me with your poisonous tongue, the battle scars inflicted during our version of World War II still haven’t healed… You are a nuclear power plant Landmines, Bombs, Ak-47’s Powerful and destructive I have to get … Continue reading Nostalgia
I cannot compare myself to those who came before me or to those who come after me… All I can do is leave an imprint of my presence on your subconscious so that even when you’re not thinking about me, you’re thinking about me. I am permanent marker You cannot erase me Did you think it would be that easy… to forget the map that … Continue reading Lovers Quest…
Ode to sunshine she is, at least in his eyes… She is– chest crushing heat burning through blinds and curtains still dry air that suffocates with only a smile. She is– warmth that penetrates deep within his soul’s desire. His ray of hope saturated with prayers and dreams without even trying. How could this be when she belongs to another sits in another sky in a … Continue reading Ode To Sunshine Pt. II: My Version
By Latif Chris Alexander As the sunrise, I reflect I see u again, and then I know the day will bring forth pleasures of joy. Beaming through my blinds & curtains Shining and trapped on my face but I lay still and don’t want it to escape. Hello & good morning to Sunshine She’s my sunshine a ray of hope ya portrait so hot it … Continue reading Ode to Sunshine
Night out with the girls I just wanted to have fun Never looking for what I found But I reeled you in With my flirty talk My sexy walk yea you was kinda nice … tall, dark, handsome combined with the perfect mix of thug & intellect Just my type of guy offered me a ride home cuz I was about 5 drinks passed drunk … Continue reading Poem: Gibraltar
Me llaman la grifa~ niña linda, pelo malo~ because it wouldn’t obey untamable beast told to relax as the lie (lye) concoction burned the kink out of my hair erasing temporarily the part of me that I hated the most. Genetically made up to be wild not to be tamed or managed or straightened or subdued or laid flatly with no body or bounce No…that … Continue reading La Grifa~
nancy arroyo ruffin 