88 Degrees

The weather is heating up

So is my passion.

As this chapter comes to a close

My mind has taken on a new task

Revolution.

My drive is getting higher

So is the sun.

Something great is happening.

-I have found my purpose.


-Me.

I get headaches
Little small ones
I feel my eyebrows raise
And my shoulders tense up
My eyes get heavy
And I sit
Not knowing what to do
Not knowing how to stop it
Combat it
Relax.
So I've forced myself to live.
I live with headaches
Tense shoulders
Heavy eyes
In a state of calm
A state of worry
A state of now...

We suffer in plain sight
They hate us
Yet want to be us
Steal our style
Then ignore us all together
Our men
Impregnate us
Then demean us
While we hold them down
And get left behind
Then we turn around
And hate each other.

Don't you realize that I'm all you got?

We carry the hate of the world
On our shoulders
Don't you know I can decrease that weight?

Don't fight me
Join me
Let me pull you up
So we can all rise
Because sister,
I see you
And I'm here to help
Because I too know how it feels
To be ignored
And to suffer
In plain sight.

MY PEOPLE

My people are Black, beige, yellow
Brown and beautiful
A garden of life
with a love as sweet as scuppernong wine
growing in muddy waters
making brown babies with
pink feet and quick minds
My people warm sometimes hot
always cool always together
My people let's be together
understand that we've lived together
understand that we've died together
understand My brother that I've
smelled your piss in my hallway
and it smell just like mine
understand that I love your woman
my sister and her rare beauty
is reason enough for a revolution
yes sister my honest sister
I have had ugly moments with you
but you are the only beauty I've ever known
Yes sister my honest sister
you are the joy in my smile
you are the reality of my dreams
you are the only sister I have
and I need you
I need you to feed the children
of our race
I need you to feed the lovers of our race
I need you to be the summer of my winters
I need you because
you are the natural life in the living
at night there is a moon
to make the Blackness be felt
I am that Blackness
filling up the world
with My soul
and the world knows me
You are that moon
my moon Goddess shining down light
on my Black face
that fills the universe
My moon I am your sun
and I shall take this peace
of light and build a world
for you my sister
Sometimes the waters are rough
and the hungry tide swallows the shore
washing away all memories
of children's footsteps
playing in the sand
where is the world I promised my son?
must he push back the tide
and build the world
that I have rapped about
Am I so godly until I forget
what a man is?
Am I so right until
there is no room for patience
My brother Oh in brother
father of a son
father of a warrior
My brother the sun
My brother the warrior
Be the beginning and the end
for my sister
Be the revolution for our world
turn yourself into yourself
and then onto this disordered world
and arrange the laughter for joy
the tears for sorrow
Turn purple pants, alligator shoes
leather jackets, brown boots
polka dot ties, silk suits,
Turn miniskirts, false eyelashes,
red wigs, afro wigs, Easter bonnets,
bellbottoms turn this confusion
into Unity Unity
so that the sun will follow
our foot steps in the day
so that the moon will glow
in our living rooms at night
so that food, clothing, and shelter
will be free
because we are born free
to have the world as our playground
My people.

- Abiodun Oyewole

02.13.11

i cried myself to sleep last night

And I'm not sure why.

i wasn't sad

I wasn't angry

There wasn't a single ounce of hurt

In my body.

Yet,

I cried

And I cried

Cried a beautiful stream

Of loneliness.

A loneliness that I couldn't physically feel

But it was there

And it poured its heart out last night

Right onto my pillow.

--Angela

01.23.11

As you entered my body
For the very first time
The only emotion I could grasp
Was nothing.
As much as it hurt
And as bad as I should have felt
The only thought that crept through
Was nothing.
As I moaned
Cussed
And whispered your name
All I could think
Is nothing.
As I bled
In a painful bliss
There was just
Nothing.
In the day,
Night,
And even morning after
I still can’t explain
It’s just … nothing.
My mind replays it all day
My ears hear it through the silence
And when my eyes close
It’s there
Yet,
I still feel
Nothing.
I can’t explain why.
My heart knows
It should weep for you.
My body knows
It should have waited.
My brain knows
It should regret it.
But instead of being overcome with emotions
I am calm
And feel
Nothing.

--Angela

why are u here again
but not really "here"?
i suceeded in getting rid of u
for longer than i thought
but now u've creeped back in
and i dont why.
i promised myself
i was gonna get over it
but,
now i'm back here in lala land
and to be honest,
ive never been that great at keeping promises...

Untitled

When I said I wasn’t mad
I meant it
In the place of anger
It was the confusion
That lingered in my mind.
The why
That keeps me from moving on.
I thought I was good
Because I wasn’t angry
But now I realize
That by trying to figure it out
I’m just as held down
As the most bitter foe.
So here’s my declaration
To you
And me
From here on out
I don’t need a why
An answer
Is unnecessary
From here on out
I wish you nothing but the best,
Not that I ever wished less,
And I hope life is good to you
Because it’s wonderful to me.

--Angela

*So, technically this is the last day of the poetry week. The poems I shared aren't the best in my arsenal, but they all mean a lot to me. I have so many poems that I would like to get off my chest, so Ive decided to keep on posting. It wont be everyday. Just whenever I feel the urge to share... Write on folks! lmao (that should soo be my new "thing"...)


Apparently people my age
Are supposed to all act the same
We’re supposed to party all night
And drink the days away.
I’m sorry that I chose to think for myself
And follow my own path.
Sorry that I chose to do what I want
And not be swayed by the actions, motives, and thoughts of others
Sorry that this time
I chose to do me
And live my own life.
But I’ll be sure
To walk blindly behind my peers
In my next lifetime.


--Angela

What is “too far?”
“I’ve gone too far to come back.”
Is too far losing your virginity before marriage?
Is too far lusting for the same sex?
Is too far drinking your pain away?
Or smoking all day?
Or being strung out?
Or robbing someone?
Beating your spouse?
Committing a crime?
Murder?

What is “too far?”
You are never “too” far
To come back to God.
Because as the devil grabs one foot and tries to pull you down,
The Lord is pulling you up
With both hands.


--Angela

Speak

Speak.
Not talk,
But speak.
Be unafraid of what people will think
Don’t worry about whether or not they’ll get it
Whether they will understand
Stop worrying about
Whether or not it comes out “right”
Just speak
Be proud
Know that you’re smarter
Then they think

Speak.
Not talk,
But speak your mind
And let them know
Who you’ve always been.

--Angela

Untitled

*This ones not that great, but watev...

One day
One day I’ll conjure up the courage
To introduce myself to you.
One day I’ll know your name.
One day we’ll talk and I’ll smile.
One day I’ll know you
And you’ll know me.
I hope this day comes soon
Cause I’m tired of dreaming.

--Angela

Vanity

Living pay check to pay check
Still won’t stop you
Because it’s imperative
That you have the cutest shoes,
Pretty toes and fingers
Unique jewelry and all the latest gadgets
They must be acquired.
Student loans, credit cards, and three jobs
Make it all ‘okay’
But graduation is just a few months away
I’ll check back with you then
And see what you have to say.


--Angela

Untitled

Yesterday was a sad, sad day
Yesterday was the day that I chose to walk away.
Walk away from me
Away from the me who was afraid to be me
Away from the me who was holding onto me
Holding me back.

But today, today is going to be a very good day
Today is the day that I have chosen to stand tall
To move on
To be me
To accept me, all the while
Becoming better and happier.


--Angela

Lost

It’s not here,
Nor is it there.
Thinking about everything
Yet,
Nothing.
Anxious and stressed
But calm.
Where is my mind?
Focused
Yet not retaining a single bit of information.
Where is my mind?
It’s conflicted and confused
And just wants to be free.
Above all else,
It’s lost
And just wants to be found.


--Angela

The Man Who Thinks He Can

by Walter D. Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

The Seducer

I’ve turned you on
Even from the couch
I’ve pushed your buttons
And you’re ready to entertain

Me, from across the room
You feed rainbow fantasies
Of the American Dream
Having a 4.5 folk

Family, twisting reality
Between seductive breaks
Of hedonistic indulgence
Hours we play this

Game, of me turning you on
And you teasing me
From across the room
Until I reach

For the remote



seen here : http://ainhd.blogspot.com/

For Freedom Not For Beauty

*Not sure if I'e posted this before..if i did, oh well.

By: Chrisette Michelle (yes, the singer)

There’s a beauty that lives so deep inside each of us.

There’s a fickle eye
that doesn’t believe anything it sees.

There’s a benefit in love that erases all doubt and believes good intentions.

There’s an ear that isn’t free enough to give the honest man the benefit of the doubt cluttered by lies not-mentioned.

Since when is creativity subject to criticism?

When is honesty subject to a jury of fears who wouldn’t believe rain if it fell, or sun if it shined?

Sometimes a flower grows when no one’s watching.

Sometimes a bird sings and no one hears.

There’s a meadow no one runs on and a cloud no one names.

And what would the sky be without the sun?

What would the earth be without its rose?

They’d still be the sky and the Earth.

So perhaps there is a peace in becoming.

Perhaps the meaning is in the experience and not the sight.

Maybe a flower grows because it suffocates under ground.

Whether or not she is always noticed, beauty must become.

She doesn’t look for an eye.
She doesn’t listen for a voice.
She just becomes,

For Freedom Not For Beauty

Exits

By Langston Hughes


The sea is deep,
A knife is sharp,
And a poison acid burns -
But they all bring peace
For which the tired
Soul yearns.
They all bring rest
In a nothingness
From where
No soul returns.

My People

*Inspiration for my next tattoo.

By : Langston Hughes

The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.