fallen heirlooms

They tell me That there is nothing sacred about where you come from That all your ancient connections are mere fantasy. That the genetic coding has always been random and devoid of this thing you call inheritance and spirit. That your ancestors are nothing more than fallen heirlooms; relics from sentiments only relevant to bygone […]

among the living

How will I know if this living is certain? If the legacy implanted in my memory isn’t only part of the story we tell ourselves before we fizzle out? The story is the moon – and the truth is the sun – and reality is the light from this interplay this story is what gives […]

on depression

The thing about writing is, though it’s solitary in nature, unless it resonates with the outer world, it remains largely autobiographical, and for that reason, maybe inaccessible to the public. I had a professor once tell me that the best type of writing is something which effectively connects the personal to the political, the particular […]

Black Men Are My Galaxy

We live in a generation of dead beats Wrestling themselves out of their tombs. We’ve been sleep walking so long. Rising like slack-jawed zombies while thriller Quietly lurks in the background and the Grandest questions remains: Whoever told us to die? And how might we resurrect? You know the answer is love, my friend. But […]

The Mission

If I could tell my grandchildren A thing about how to interpret Blackness I would tell them that blackness is not Something we do on the weekends Or take off like a wife-beater at The end of a long day. I would tell them that Blackness won’t teach you how To pray or read or […]

black girls love song

I spoke to God last night And He told me to begin calling him ‘They’ So I could understand things Without needing to limit them. He told me to call him ‘they’ So I could bring about the change I desire The kind which helps black girls love themselves In the world we’ve created. When […]

to fall for something invisible

You must bow your head before the pain you must discreetly tuck the names of your enemies in your left pocket. And you must walk. Past the images, the oblivion, the demons, the memories. Yes, walk past the terror and the motions from which they spring forth. Allow neither recollection nor anticipation to stir you. Like […]

on beauty

what is beauty? when i was younger and held my curls in the back of my mind an afterthought to the silk and comfort of the straightening iron i would find my identity in the ogling eyes of passerbyes “you’re beautiful!” they would shout and i pocketed each and every utterance felt a sort of […]

star dust

I’d never known to ask Nor tired of the ceaseless shrill Of extraterrestrial thoughts Which crossed my path Nights when my body’s chemistry didn’t Pay allegiance to the initial one that Grounded me I can’t help but think Of you in everything I do, Father Humans take pity on my Narrow mind I walk thru […]

not my home

i am thoroughly unaware of the power you hold in your hands because most nights i sleep and the absence of you causes my weeping, the temporary purr of instability i was never inadequate before meeting you used to stride aptly in between time periods from childhood to adolescence i stumbled yes, sure, but far […]

ankober yewondwossen

poems