We look ahead to Black History Month as we leave behind Black lives that didn’t matter to police. The system isn’t just murdering precious life — it’s killing the spirit and bodies of everyone left behind to hold the grief of who we’ve lost. …

crossposted from the Black Women Know Best newsletter. Everyone knows that the Defund movement is about abolishing police and prisons, but what most people are quick to (dis)miss is that this vision is rooted in the possibilities of an abundant and affirmative future. Some of the Democrats, progressives, and even…

i am swimming into a new year and the years past wash away like a river that i test with my toes like shower tears like all my lapsed desires and it will be hard to let go of what i dreamt for myself from myself when i was last year and this year and today even today but i am swimming into a new year and i ask what i seek and i shape to carry me This poem is borne from “i am running into a new year” by Lucille Clifton.

I am learning every day Like how to stay grounded To be responsive and not react To admit I was only half-holding myself Awaiting my own embrace I am learning every day To be less judgmental, practice patience, And accept when people fall short It’s only human to dissatisfy I am learning every day To let go of expectations They only foretell disappointment I am learning every day That certain things are not Achieved by force I am learning every day Like how it takes time So much time For my body and mind to align I am learning every day The many versions of me To let die and to grieve And so many possibilities of who I can progress to be I am learning every day

collect your feelings count them with care and self compassion let discomfort come until every choice and consequence become clear cover yourself your entirety in forgiveness remind yourself that you are free and that this too is your contribution This poem was originally written on October 2, 2022.

Going, going, gone Swallowing the chaos of it all, then swallowing the spirits to float away Our body couldn’t hold us — our shaken soul, our unstable heart So it made us stop and go slow, slow, slow Stay here Stay here. Stay with the ground, rooted down This poem was originally written on July 8, 2022.

Change just happened It just happened again And again And again And again Adapt to it. Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant.” Heraclitus was wrong. Change is constant but so is the constant connection to self In body In soul In heart In mind In spirit To adapt to change, is to come home. It’s there if you’re awake and aware. Stay constant.

Closed into myself Closed into my shell Aching to be open Aching when I open Climbing and falling and climbing again Expanding and deflating and expanding again Embracing, rejecting Seeking, retreating Through it all, making a home within myself. This poem was originally written on July 10, 2022. It’s dedicated to Kelly Overstreet and Laura Kelly.

It’s because I can’t stay in these moments that I must go The flowers, a multitude in bloom is best But one is always enough I smile on them and they smile on me And then I have to go — back to work, back to errands and lists, back to waiting and hoping and wishing Flowers are being All the time And I want to be with them This poem was originally written in June 2022.