Empowerment
Woman
A word to the woman
see It wasn't that man's rib that made us strong, it was the breath that God blew into our lungs.
So, like David we write our own psalms.
Only a woman can stand this strong. As we bare witness while the police killing our sons.
From dusk till dawn, we stand up fight and never run.
I know some of y'all don't understand my dialect and can't appreciate my intellect.
I mean no disrespect.
I didn't come here to protest a battle between sexes.
I'm just pondering when did women become the provider & protector?
When did our roles intertwine & become one?
We carry, labor and raise him, but only a man can teach his son to become one.
So many women doing manly jobs.
That's why when men approach us, we come off so hard.
Our scars hold more than 16 bars.
The more estrogen the more heart.
Like Rosa Parks we move the movement,
and every time our strength is tested, we prove it.
We adapt and overcome, every obstacle & every situation.
Like a lioness we're never extinct, and ain't no replacing us.
God placed his greatness in us!
That's why every living human being comes from within us
THE WO-MAN.
Nairobi X
Priceless Woman
• I know for sure that your God's masterpiece,
• Cuz after he fashioned Adam, he surpassed his own mastery the moment that he crafted eve.
• And after eve every woman since has been half a queen,
• beautiful beyond comprehension so her other half's a dream.
• How could I breathe without your essence?
• How could I be without you bringing out the best in me by just being in my presence.
• I am incomplete without you present,
• You are my rib so without you my heart is unprotected.
• How can a King be a king without a queen next to him?
• How can the moon shine without the sun reflecting it?
• I look to the sky and see it alive with your testament,
• Cuz every star is a woman that shows us all what perfection is.
• In you I glimpse God's magnificence,
• A sliver of his brilliance that reveals his omnipotence.
• Every stroke of his brush masterful in its sentiment
• To bring about perfection manifested in the feminine.
• I'm swimming in the infinite when I behold your feminine form,
• Cuz God gives the world a miracle every time a woman is born.
• Power and grace summoned in greatness and boldly adorned,
• Shine from the face of every angel his greatness has spawned.
• I'm in awe of you and mesmerized by all that you are,
• I fall harder and harder in love with you every time that you open your heart.
• I give you my all, for all of time I'm totally yours,
• Cuz a man without a woman is hopelessly lost.
David H
Tears in the Shadows
In the darkness of my quiet room, I weep alone just a single mother tending to the seeds I’ve grown.
No guidebook for this journey I'm upon, lost in the shadows where my fears are drawn.
Two children cling their innocence is so pure yet
their mother's heart a heavy anchor for sure but still in my darkness I long to be seen
Afraid to find a love as I hesitate to freely give my love
My past as heavy chains that I cannot flee in broken men I search to find peace
All I find is a false decree
each empty touch is a taste of happiness, but it leaves my soul in deeper loneliness
I know these men will never light my way but like a fool I wish for a love to stay
In my moments of desperation, I turn to them just hoping their attendance will heal my heart
condemn but deep within my lies a truth untold my strength that rises from the depths so brave…
I am more than my mistakes and my wounded holds a strong mother my love destined to last my dark shadows linger slinging doubts so powerful but in these tears a pool of mercy a warrior rises from her darkest place
Out of the shadows shines grace as the sun shines upon my face
Charna
Soulmate
To me you're my destiny and my fate/ the very food that's on my plate /the love that's in my hate/ the Sun that shines upon my face /the hope that brings me back to Faith /to me you're the one that inspires me / I trust that you would never lie to me/ you're my sanity in the wicked place /my shelter when I need to feel safe/ the very definition of my grace/ to me you're the wires that grounds me /the amp that moves my bass/ the speaker's that's in place/ the very reason that I was created /to me you're my respirator /my defibrillator/ my rescuer better-late-than-never /my Endeavors /my commitment to Forever/ in every way you make me better /to me your worth all my sacrifices/you're the calm in my crisis/ my certainty when I'm indecisive /your the breath I feel when I'm lifeless /to me you're the sweet dreams when I sleep/ the ground beneath my feet /the oxygen that I breathe /the Conqueror of my defeat. To me your my soulmate the other 1/2 of me..
Nairobi X
Knowledge is my strengthened.
Reason is my faith.
Love is my foundation.
Enthusiasm is my enemy.
Remembrance is my friend.
Fairness is my trouble.
Sorrow is my companion.
Science is my weapon.
Patience is my mantle.
Contentment is my glory.
Poverty is my pride.
Devotion is my art.
Determination and Conviction is my power.
Truth is my redeemer.
Obedience suffices me.
Character is my struggle.
Pleasures is my prayer.
Kathy
Where Poetry lives
Here poetry lives. Restricted to penal institutions. Playing out as theatrical war-stories on main lines. And descriptive raw details of life on Death Row, all the while contemplating lethal injection. As secure brave expressions 4rom those in solitary-confinement. Here poetry lives. Among the prison population. Among those who escape between the lines. Freeing their poetry 4rom mental bondage that it may find freedom beyond the walls, fences, barb wires, and bars, that define the Department of Corruption. Where does poetry live? Inside the cells. Germinating organically within the universal space of confined thoughts. Stimulated by a confined existence. The noise, the beat. Conversations, the rhythm. Conditions, the inspiration. Poetry lives in the pens. Formless in the pigment, that exit pen-fillers of the poets who need to document life thru their own expressions. Inking letters and compositions arranged to form words, sentences, and prose that were once invisible narrations conjured up within the vast imaginations of prisoners. Here poetry lives behind enemy lines. Where does poetry live? Deep within the Belly of The Beast.
Big Muhammad
I long to be free
There's a hole in my heart that desires freedom
See I come from a background of addiction, trauma, pain, criminality, and loneliness.
So, there's this hole where freedom should be.
My heart desires the type of freedom that comes with comfort. Lord knows my struggles paid in full for such a purchase. Yet I'm still indebted unable to pay the taxation afflicted, at times unable to pursue proper concentration.
My heart desires a love I once knew. The kind of love that kept me embraced like my mother's womb. Profound prolific and real. Supportive without limits or conditions.
" Hearts of fire" earth wind and fire status.
Tryna become what I know I could be. But there's freedom still my heart seeks.
There's love, trust, emotional strength and mental stability I need.
Running from the demons of addiction that pursue me. Running from the ties of authorities over my life.
There's freedom in my heart I need.
From day to day, nights and weeks I'm empty. As if my soul is on a journey that only I can see because this freedom keeps evading me.
I chase but begin to wonder if I'll ever be free.
Self-medication used to be the way. Until I learned I still lose anyway. Trapped inside the confines of a diseased mind. Trapped inside of self-inflicted wall I can't climb. Clinging to a hope that's blind.
So, my heart desires a freedom I can't see. A freedom I desperately need.
There's a hole in my heart where freedom should be & It's black as the deepest sea.
I mean the freedom just to be free. Like Nat, Harriet, and many others tried to seek.
And still, I feel alone cause where this freedom should be, the hole continuously gets bigger consuming me.
And I'm afraid there'll be nothing left of me if I can't fill this hole where freedom should be.
Aquile
Simply Me
I don't need to wear mascara to compliment my deep brown eyes.
No fake lashes to extend my lashes just me in the natural.
Outer beauty fades as time passes. Cosmetics are only temporary, but my beauty is everlasting.
why cover up my cheekbones with foundation and blush?
The structure of my facial features is more than enough.
My coco brown skin tone highlights & magnifies to the perfect touch.
Why mask my face with makeup when real beauty shines from within us.
There's no need for me to paint the fullness of my lips with lipstick,
no more than I need to have a big butt and thick hips.
It's like the defining me by the lining of my lips.
If you look not with your eyes but with your heart you will be blessed with the true beauty that exist.
So why I perm my hair or add extensions
just to get his attention?
My spiral signifies my strength and my beauty and many dimensions.
I don't want him to stop and stare when he walks by,
but when I talk, I want him to stop and listen
capture my radiance with retention not to mention to respect my mind and support my decisions.
Girl listen, it's okay to be thicker than thin
the media act like it's a sin to be bigger than a size 10.
Got us wrapped in girdles and wearing wigs
not even comfortable in our own skin.
I'm just wondering when will this nonsense end?
Laugh out loud trying to look like Barbie to please Ken.
But even he knows true beauty comes from within.
Nairobi X