First of all, a huge thanks to everyone who purchased my first book of poetry!
If you haven’t had the chance to get it yet, just follow this link and you'll have options to purchase.
I want to do a brief behind the words post for one of my poems: “domestic.abuse.”which is the first poem of my collection.
Disclaimer: People are free to interpret poems however they darn well please, but I wanted to explain what I’m thinking as I’m cranking out poems like:
So, on the surface it looks like a poem about a woman in an abusive relationship with a man. But if you only read the bolded words, you'll see they are pretty popular lyrics. The lyrics highlight the fact that the abuser is none other than the United States of America and the woman represents Black Americans. (Check out the video version of this poem to hear Jeremy Uwah’s bass in the background (headphones necessary), which makes the connection abundantly clear.)
But there are more clues throughout the piece:
Humor me as I just taught myself basic code Sunday night, and click on the arrow by the excerpts for the explanations.
▼ “My ebony code switched, pants hitched, but still my ribs -- kicked."
▼ "... you call my scars progress. You've since found new methods to maim me mockingly..."
▼ “... you grasp my wrists, fresh with self-inflicted wounds, and grunt in haughty disdain. You’re struck with convenient amnesia of your gifted razor. You taught me shame!"
I’m going to stop myself right there. I’m doing all the thinking for you. The teacher in me wants to give you the pleasure of making connections on your own. So that's that...
