Free verse poem about Black girlhood

Date:

The Girl

The colored girl

The colored girl does not speak 

She is not spoken to

Daisy dukes

short skirts

Fast girl:

Cover yourself

Girl

Girl

Girl

Her body

does not belong to her

Lip 

Smart girl:

So you think you’re grown?

Lip 

Fast girl

Girl

Girl

Girl

 The Woman

 The woman 

 she grimaces 

He enters her body 

he has made a home within her

Coiled hair

glistening skin

he is on her

inside of her 

under her flesh

with his rib and cartilage he has remade her anew

Her body

her body, it burns

Burns 

Touch me

Don’t

Please

Her (Man)

She likes the way her man holds her hand

His hand, her hand 

Her man

He speaks 

in riddles and songs 

He

he does not understand 

her 

Lip to cheek

Palm to cheek 

Do you love me?

The Child 

The child looks upon her

her mother

Girl 

Girl 

Girl

always a girl

What becomes of the colored

Girl?

                                Girl 

                 Girl 

Girl 

Maybe her mother

is the sun

What if we played together

 as girls do

child 

I wish to stay under her skin

child 

Beneath rib

child

Beneath muscle 

child 

please do not abandon me.

MiC Managing Editor Allana Smith can be reached at allanans@umich.edu.

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