“Some may think that this is the kind of essay that only ugly women write.”

“I’ve begun to appreciate acts of love and moments of pure connection as they happen.”

"i value time off—and self-love

and what comes along with peace

such as breathing through the clear breeze

sometimes forgetting about my oxygen-thief"

"Surrender your heart to the pushes and pulls of life.”

"The mixture of light and darkness gives her silhouette an angelic appearance"

Sound — in verse awakening me to my potential…

“‘I’ll take it, sir.’ She handed the merchant her card, and the cashier passed it through the cash register. ‘Sold.’”

An observation of faith and embodiment of my ancestors.

“If I stopped looking for everything I lack, I could allow myself to expand.”

“Somehow, though, there was a chapter slowly closing all the pain to allow me to acknowledge myself, the anger now the knowledge of my experience.”

“If I don’t take the time to fully see myself for who I am, how can I expect someone else to do so?”

“I followed and trusted the words of the Sunset—my guide and subconscious voice: the Holy Spirit. This allowed me to discern that things will not fail for me unless I let them; mindset is everything.”

“I’m constantly feeling like a fraud.”

On the magic of loving yourself and your lineage.

"The mirror of truth, / the shame and pain of emptiness, / of lack, / of defeat."

An admiration of love and a manifestation of freedom…

“In a broken world, I promise to love you whole.”

“But when the interview was long over and there was no longer any pressure on me to deliver a neat answer; when I was in bed tossing, turning, and poring over the minute details of my day; when I had seemingly all the time in the world as the night stretched before me, I still had trouble hitting the bullseye. Almost like I didn’t know myself — like there was a schism of the self.”

“As a poet, I write of mass Black exodus, ancient memory, unspoiled land and what I mean is that I want somewhere of my own.”

A reflection on cardiac exhaustion