womanhood – Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee

Red

red

The school pays no mind and makes a little girl pay the ultimate price because the school clock says there is no time

No time for a woman to be a woman

Because outdated textbooks and sentence structure mean more than the period at the end

Of the day

There’s more than enough time they say but

When she rushes back to class, everything is

Red

The flow of life

The greatest abomination

Drips down her leg

It makes no sense

The thoughts placed in her head like

All the things her teacher should have said

It makes no sense

No time for a woman to be a woman

When everything is red

Stop Looking

oncar

Because we women too often look to everything and everyone else but ourselves…to find and define ourselves

Stop looking for her

In between the lines and

Squeezed behind the confines of

The words of others

She feels no need to hide her unfinished pages

Her book is still in progress and

Writing is a process so

She takes her sweet time

Stop looking for her

In a man’s lustful gaze

In his validation, in his temptation and

His inclination toward what’s on her outside

He can go sit down somewhere because trust

She’ll be just fine

And if chivalry don’t pull out her chair before he pulls out his or if

Chivalry don’t give her no goodnight kiss she’ll

Pull out her own chair and sit where she wants to sit

Chivalry died but she still sleeps at night and

Before she closes her weary eyes

God always tells her He loves her anyway

Stop looking for her

In her accolades or in her titles or

In her degrees

When the dust settles underground and

When she is no longer around, what does a piece of paper in a pretty frame really even mean?

In life, all that forms above ground will eventually cease

Only to return through the trees and

Through the breeze and the dirt but

How she gonna enjoy her stay if she’s too high on hierarchy to come back down to earth?

Stop looking for her

In other places other than

Where you should have looked already

Just because you think you’re not ready for

Who you may find

Dig deeper

Some extra help

Something like a search and rescue mission

but this one’s for your damn self

An Amber Alert, a missing person’s case

You better do something different before it’s too late

On Me

unnamed

They say they like

what I wear and

The lips on my lipstick

And the way my hair

wears my head but

It wears on me

The moment my words leave my lips and

I put my foot down and my hands on my hips

It’s too confusing.

And it’s too hard

Be quiet

Be cute

Little black girl

Play

Your

Part

It wears on me

Like when I wear my super skinny jeans

And they say to me

they look so good on you

I say thanks, it’s because I’m running

Running every other day of the week

I’m running

Because it wears on me

Black Girl Lost

makeup-1442912_1280

I look at the pictures

I see

afro puff pigtails: her innocence, her take-over-the-world attitude

tucked in some overall denim blues and Reebok classic shoes

a little black girl in her own little black girl world

she is confident

she is fearless

she is loved

but time has passed and so has she

rest In peace little black girl

rest eternally

I look at the woman before me

I see

her weary big brown eyes with lines

aged with disappointment and distrust

her too tight dress because tight isn’t tight enough

her half smile, her crooked mask

so crooked, it’s falling

she’s falling

fast

she is vulnerable

she is doubtful

but she is still loved

the mirror uncovers the lies

she tries and she tries

to cover up

but her dress is too small and her mask

too big

unveiling for all to see

the things she wish she could’ve hid

she longs for her

the little girl

the little kid

and her Afro puff pigtail attitude

as her mind suffocates from her grown lady wig

oh how we play pretend

when the grown woman wants to be a little girl again

this grown woman, playing with real life and make-up and men

can’t wait to grow up and be a kid

again

For the Ladies: “The Plan”

The Plan

by Danaya

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason at least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

Like a few years back I knew I was in love

Yea we had our problems but struggle…no one is above

Our relationship wasn’t healthy Abusive if I’m being honest

But my little one could have been enough to make him keep his promise

I know it sounds irrational and maybe it wouldn’t have worked

But maybe my baby would have given me the strength to walk away before it got worse

That piece of me could have been enough to heal my tattered soul

The agony of that loss is buried in the story never told

Maybe the plan was for the relationship to end

But did it have to include taking a life before it could begin?

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason At least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

A few years pass and I trust a man for the first time in my life

He shares plans of making me his wife

From the first conversation I knew we would last

Building a future by discussing the past

I never let anyone in so he invited me out

I stepped out of my shell I let go of my doubts

He unpacked my baggage and checked my insecurities

He mended the breaks of my heart on my sleeve

He handled me with care until the moment he stopped

I guess his forever meant until he decided to walk off

So, how can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason At least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

I had plans of genuine love and affection

Of inseparable bonds and intimate connections

Of raising my child to love better than I

Of experiencing a forever that transcends time

To trust the plan is a difficult task

To say it all was necessary…all of my painful past?

My broken heart and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Danaya’s “The Plan” is part one of a three part series. For more, follow Danaya’s Blog here.

For the Ladies: “Being a Woman”

For Women’s History Month, its only right to feature some beautiful words — about the beauty of womanhood.

For the ladies.

Being a Woman.

by Fantasia Alston

This doesn’t mean that our hair has to be long

Or that we’re overly sensitive

When something goes wrong

It also doesn’t mean we need to have curves

Or a face full of make-up

Just so men can observe

We’re courageous and strong with warm hearts

Beautiful in every single way

Our body is art

We are essential contributors

Who can take on any role

Influential muses

Knowing how to take control

Caregivers and breadwinners

Who’ll always pull through

With a herstory of progressive accomplishments

There’s nothing we can’t do

Follow Fantasia’s blog on Tumblr here.