Latoya Waugh 10/30/20 Latoya Waugh 10/30/20

Her Fate Decided

It was three months after moving into their new home that Toni-Ann was recognising a new pattern with George. He seemed secretive, withdrawn at times and agitated with her most days.

Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20 Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20

LAUREL WREATHS

As for the little women, their time was up

This day was for the next generation to keep

And lock it away within their memories

Zahra Gordon 10/30/20 Zahra Gordon 10/30/20

S*x Ed for Little Girls

I was doing everything wrong and they made sure I knew.

There were supposed to be two buckets of water, not one. The panties were washed with blue soap before the bath, not after. Body wash was to be applied in a circular motion, not up and down, up and down.

Shauna Page 10/30/20 Shauna Page 10/30/20

I value myself

For so long physical and verbal abuse I endured…

Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20 Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20

DRESSES IN THE CLOSET

I never thought I’d use you

Waiting intentions not placed on you

Your beauty is now utilized

Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20 Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20

PEARLS TO REMEMBER

Remember, you reap what you sew

You shall be given vineyards you did not plant,

Houses you did not build

Gabrielle E. Mohamed 10/30/20 Gabrielle E. Mohamed 10/30/20

Welcome To De Sarcophagus Ah Patriarkey

De day afta de Red Muddah shut-up shap

Darkness de covah de rims ah Guyana

Castin de plague ah shadows

Into de souls ah de eye-suh-late.

Danielle Sutherland 10/30/20 Danielle Sutherland 10/30/20

If you’re anything like me

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably known for a long long time that your mental landscape is very different…

L.A. Wanliss 10/30/20 L.A. Wanliss 10/30/20

Flight

We watched the queens of New Kingston in the gayest gully on earth caged birds with ambitions to soar grounded by clipped wings

Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20 Javanna Cumberbatch 10/30/20

VELVETS IN THE FIELD

What they call self-care today

It is we who showed you the way

Michelle Clermont 10/30/20 Michelle Clermont 10/30/20

I do not fall

Because I know boys such as this

who reach their hand out to me and call

“Jump! I’ll catch you!”

And as I edge,

Closer to the ledge

Toes half in gravity, trepidatious, I reply

“You see I’ve fallen before-

I’ve crashed to the ground.

I’ve tasted the earth, the soil, and the gravel”

Grace Peters-Clarke 10/30/20 Grace Peters-Clarke 10/30/20

In The Bowels of Her Memory

Maybe this is the time to come clean. This is the salvation, the sign she had been beseeching the universe for the last four years. Or maybe this is a trap. To admit the abuse, would be to admit her weakness.

Britney Gabbidon 10/30/20 Britney Gabbidon 10/30/20

Wrinkled Memory

There are pockets in my mind

that empty themselves

hold coins of memory?

Lexington Wilks 10/30/20 Lexington Wilks 10/30/20

Take Me or Leave Me

Maybe this is the time to come clean. This is the salvation, the sign she had been beseeching the universe for the last four years. Or maybe this is a trap. To admit the abuse, would be to admit her weakness.