#NaPoWriMo Day 28
i asked my body
together we bowed our heads
this thing that happened is big
this thing that happend closes lungs
this thing that happened stops breath
this thing
this grief
swallows us all
i asked my body
how do we get through this
she whispered to me
gently
i asked my body
how do we get through this
she whispered again
in and with community
go find the ones that love you
remember
there are many
Copyright 2017 Uchechi Kalu
#NaPoWriMo Day 19
I’ve made it to the halfway mark. This is a big deal for me. I am a poet and always will be, but in year’s past I havent been able to fully commit to this challenge. This process is stirring up something inside me and it’s a good thing. The point of this exercise is to just create and not thing too much about it. Some of the poems might seem wonderful and others might be something i put in a folder and don’t use. But to get to the useful work, I must create the rough first drafts. I must create the imperfect. ANd And right now, creating the imperfect and trusting that process is nourishing me. I hope it’s doing the same for you. Enjoy!
But, now, here I am doing it.
Today I was inspired by architecture and the lives that construct our own lives.
built
start with bone
if there is no bone
move on to tissue
piece it bone move on to construct it
with something else
pipe cleaners
we’ve got those
next she will need tissue
the blood and the tissues work together
if there is none find leftover dinner scraps
mix it with the soil
and compost her into existence
she will need blood
just like we discussed
and if there is none
maybe we can conjure up something liquid
something that can glide to move each organ to
pump towards the heart
maybe give her rain
let the water fall down on this woman we are building
let there be something distinguishible in who she is
we’ve got pipe cleaners
and rain and compost and making tissue out of
discoverables
next we must just step back
and let her breathe
let her open her eyes look around and take it all in
this life was meant for her
that is how we build her
© 2017 Uchechi Kalu
#NaPoWriMo Day 17
will simply be with you
your hands will be tethered to theirs they will
know your breath
that distant hum at night
they will laugh at the way your curl your lips
just before waking
they will stand there
with you as your eyes give off the wet stench
of defeat
they will remain
when nothing else
does
Copyright 2016 Uchechi Kalu
#NaPoWriMo Day 16
in bloom
for my brother
I just wanted you
to smell the flowers
with me
they were glorious
i brought them home
carefully wrapped
like a new child
i carefully clipped the ribbon at the base
and i put them in a vase
and they were absolutely stunning
you would have loved them
every corner of the house filled with the scent
i put my nose in the edges crevice of the house
the walls
a moment of meditation
to breathe this scent
i ended up crying
because you are not here with me
to smell the flowers
but you reminded me
that it was always you
blooming
in the room
I’ve made it to the halfway mark. This is a big deal for me. I am a poet and always will be, but in year’s past I haven’t been able to fully commit to this challenge. This process is stirring up something inside me and it’s a good thing. The point of this exercise is to just create and not thing too much about it. Some of the poems might seem wonderful and others might be something i put in a folder and don’t use. But to get to the useful work, I must create the rough first drafts. I must create the imperfect. And And right now, creating the imperfect and trusting that process is nourishing me. I hope it’s doing the same for you. Enjoy!
But, now, here I am doing it.
break me
break me then rebuild me
i want to be pieces you’re afraid to step on
littering the floor
there’s glass there
it shows up in the ways i hide
we all do it
a voice tells us not to do something because our mother’s wouldn’t approve
we are the daughters of women who did something that their mother’s
didn’t approve of
the idea of being whole formedhaving it figured out has no place here
for me i call bullshit
let me look upon myself glass richocheted on the new floors
now thisl this is the unmaking and remaking
we must break ourselves first
then go looking amongst the pieces
and pick the shards we want
to remain
Today’s poem was inspired by a conversation I had with my mother earlier this week. I knew her immigration story from Nigeria to the United States, but what I didn’t know was the story she told of applying for her first passport. I didn’t know what it was like for her to hold that in her hand and to also connect the dots and see the possibilities that were about to open up for her. This poem is for my mother. Thank you for applying for your first passport.
my mother never knew just what it felt like
to hold one
the smooth slightly pebbled jacket
the anemic yet sturdy spine
for the first time
she held her future
she took that spine
and built a whole back
for her children to stand up
straight