Author: Yecheilyah

Writing to restore Black historical truth through fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

This Hair Will Not Apologize

Dread-Locs-and-Sister-Locs-Hairstyles-For-Black-WomenYou can reason all the reasons
Why I embraced the nap
Call it kinky crap like kitchen naps
Cause it no longer snaps, crackles, and pops
There are no more cracking chemicals back there
But Kings fight private battles here
There are wars taking place here
There is strength here
There is healing here
water proof and tied and died and stuck up
This is the only place to be stuck up
To be Israel
To be Egypt
To be Africa
To be Nation
We are nation here
This is covering
There are warriors prepared for battle inside these naps
queens imbedded within the cords of this scalp
the ropes in this scalp
there are ropes here
No more laughing firecrackers to crack open the coils of these bonds
There are bonds here
Long lasting and dedicated bonds here
Battle Axes live here
A bundle of twigs
Not easily broken
this hair will not apologize
so there are no sorry’s here

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Maya Angelou

Welcome back to another episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday on The PBS Blog as Hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. This week, I take inspiration from Maya Angelou:

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I still remember when I told my English teacher I wanted to be a writer in High School. Instantly her eyes blushed the same color of worry my mother’s does when she knows I want to do something that is near impossible. As nice as she could put it, she explained that I may want to get an additional job, you know, just in case. Little did she know however that I’d wanted to write books since elementary school, and nothing she said was going to change that. She’d explained how difficult it is for writers and I even had a glimpse of them portrayed in movies. Always the same story: a struggling writer who can’t make ends meet because no one buys his books.

Any author understands how extreme the challenges can be. It seems that if you wish to take on writing and publishing, then you must also wish to take on defeat and failure. But when I read this quote, I am reminded that many of the struggles we endure are necessary to erect a kind of strength, a gift, or a power that we didn’t know existed inside of us at all. If I had not gone through what I have in my life, I would never be as effective in overcoming similar stumbling blocks headed my way. But these struggles do more than strengthen the individual, they strengthen others. None of the education in the world can compare to experience. When you’ve been between a rock and a hard place you can encourage and inspire others with your testimony, same as Angelou has just inspired us here. So, like her, I’d advise this Writer’s Quote Wednesday:

When you encounter many struggles in your writing endeavors, understand that it may be necessary for you to encounter them so that you can find your voice and become stronger at what you do. No hardship seems pleasant at the time, but know that in the end it is for your benefit.

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Don’t Forget to check out Silver Threading to see how you can join the fun and support other Writer’s Quote Bloggers. Trust me, they’re awesome. You know what to do :).

Her Song

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Her fingers girdle themselves
around the microphone
like blessings wrapped in silk
prepared to sing poetic melodies
in front an audience too deaf to hear the angels
playing on the strings of her vocal cords
to witness the flapping of wings against their skin
too blind to see the messages dancing on her collar bone
but she sings still
and smells too much like happiness to be broken

Road Trip!

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Me and My Love, ’07

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I absolutely love to travel, especially when it comes to the open road. Flying is cool, buses are not all that, and trains are OK but driving is where it’s at. There is a tranquil about the pavement that sets the stage for good thinking. And what do you ask comes from good thinking? You got it, good writing! When my husband and I started out we drove everywhere and it is the image I always have in my head of a road trip. Hubby behind the wheel, me riding shot gun, snacks keeping the back seat warm and old school music taking us back from the radio. With Marvin Gaye and Luther’s help there was never a dull moment and the conversations we’ll have came directly from the heart, giving us each a better understanding of the other. We’ll laugh and come up with funny dances you can only do in the car (hubby has this hilarious rolling the window down thing) and inside jokes only we knew about.

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There is nothing like pulling away from the world and having the space all to yourself for good conversation, so these I also cherished. Let’s not forget Cruises! If there is anything more peaceful than the road it’s a ship, I definitely look forward to that again. In any event, we are attending a conference this week in Houston, and though it’s only four hours away (a good road trip is about 7 hours for us), I am excited to roll on out and taste of the road’s delicacies, notepad and pen in hand. You know, just in case :).

Write Me a Picture

A blank faced lyric
how dull is the stare of a ball point pen
bleeding empty
This collection of words all myth in mouth
colorful descriptions
that cannot pierce the skin
or cut the bone and tendons of image
What lay beyond the composition of a word undefined
What triviality is a tasteless meal
What kind of food is this
What scarlet
What fine silk
What significance are thoughts under ball pointed pens
that have no pixel
And cannot paint
That cannot walk across the bottomless ocean of sing
Cannot sing this gut
What rebellious tongue
What confusing blood from bleeding pens
Something strange these destinations duplicate
Copied vision
No fire
No engines and bare fist
No fight beyond the pretty
No pretty beyond the picture
twisted mouths
no open minds
Do you mind?
writing me a picture
viewable beyond my eyes
write me something I can see
with my gut
and feel underneath my skin
no just sound good
no just feel euphoria
but write me a picture
beyond ball pointed pens
and pixels