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etheree for black women

By JP Howard

black women we be trying to hold worlds
on our backs, in our hearts without fail
some days we fail at perfection
black girl magic is a mask
we pull off when night comes
alone in our world,
weight off our backs
we exhale
(a) lone
heart

we
whisper
in pillows
wet with our tears
our untold secrets
we breathe without our masks
we sit still in our silence
some nights we float on crescent moons
black girl magic shining under stars
we gather our pieces before daylight
Added: Thursday, June 1, 2017  /  Used with permission.
JP Howard

JP Howard is the author of SAY/MIRROR (The Operating System, 2015), a Lambda Literary finalist and bury your love poems here (Belladonna, 2015). JP is a featured author in Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools program and the Lesbian Poet Trading Card Series (Headmistress Press). JP was a 2017 Split this Rock Freedom Plow Award for Poetry & Activism finalist. JP has received fellowships and grants from Cave Canem, VONA, Lambda, Astraea and Brooklyn Arts Council. She curates Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. JP is Editor-at-Large for Mom Egg Review online and co-edited Sinister Wisdom Journal, Black Lesbians--We Are the Revolution! JP’s work has appeared in The Academy of American Poets, Anomaly, Apogee Journal, The Feminist Wire, and The Best American Poetry Blog. Learn more at JP's website.

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