britni danielle

Dear America, 
you did it, baby. You lived
up to your promise

even though it took 
some time, you defied history
& got it right.

dear America,
today I see for the first time
what Jefferson hoped

when you were born
anything was possible
and for the first time

          I feel he was right

~~

Wrote this after Pres. Obama was elected. Not sure if I still feel the same way. Three years in and America has, again, shown herself to be a very imperfect experiment.

my son is determined
to break his arm

standing atop our
leather ottoman          proud
& grinning as if
he just conqured
        kilimanjaro

last week       he fell
and wailed until
salt caked his lashes
hysterical               he was
comforted with kisses
and coos

i ask my mother
how to keep him 
off the furniture

“a boy” she says
“what do you expect?”

~~

One of these days I’m going to release that chapbook. I promise. 

I scribble your name on envelopes

wondering if you understand    this

stirring beneath my skirt

head open and throbbing

I don’t miss you like I should

I think                       too much time has passed

too many words

not enough said

love still lives                      hear?

wisps of wind-swept memories

a tornado of bottled emotions threatening

us both          if only

I wrote this poem years after I was grown and living in NYC, feeling slightly homesick. Today is the 20th anniversary of  riots, so I thought it was fitting to share. 

~britni danielle

~~

[preface]

rodney knew what hit him

high as he was     the catalyst of

four days of neglected rage

broadcast live on kcal9

wednesday we watch tv  amused

cuz the live version doesn’t have any commentary

and 45 different camera angles

and instant replay            florence and normandie

heave and break under the weight

a rock

a broken bottle

a trash can

thrown purposefully at the blue shields

that are supposed to protect       my block

bleeds anger and frustration and false angst

and everybody wasn’t trying to be a revolutionary

breaking windows for new tvs   my neighbor asks

if i want him to bring me something back from the ashes

before today we didn’t have a name

confused when people asked what part of LA

i was from    near Inglewood was always my response

until now     South-Central burned

across news wires and tv screens          smoke

littered the street like the national guard

patrolling what was left