This is a poem I wrote for a poetry class that I teach. |
The Beast By Robyne Landiss Walker Darkness collapsing upon her face Hundreds of harrowing cries reach one tone Mouth still tastes of home Yet her heart still beat for me Lying in the belly of the beast Voyage to a foreign cell Entry to Hell Leaving behind Yoruba, Ibo, maybe Swahili Too heavy to carry Mental scars singed her mind filled with faces of loves left behind her eyes see mounds of blue black flesh remnants of beads rats wait to feed Lying in the belly of the beast Her heart still beat for me Each time, lights shine White skin tore at her White skin slapped and smeared her Unspeakable godless acts upon this woman so far from her dark continent White skin, then spit her back in The belly The belly Lying in the belly of the beast Her heart still beat Still beat for me 180 moons pass She’s birthed/spit out/falls face first on red dirt once sowed by red land Now land grabbed and built for “Freedom” Built on the back of her Oppression White skin greased her down White skin surveys her womanhood White skin place her feet on wood And her heart still beat Still beat for me Iron muzzle on her mouth Chains at her feet Lashes wet her back Yet her heart still beat Still beat Still beat for me This woman who survived The Belly of the Beast Lying in The Belly of the Beast Soul didn’t die in The Belly of the Beast Her Nature defied The Belly of the Beast And her heart still beat for me Her heart still beat for me Her heart Still beats Still beats Still beats IN ME!!!! |