Darkness

Did you ever think to bring a second candle?
The optimist in you did not think the darkness will last
The wax dripping off of its handle
As it burns much too fast
But I who’s seen darkness, I who was birthed away from light
I hoard all the candles
Fearing that they might
Not be enough

Heaven

Some days I crave a sun so bright

Instead of Memphis rain

And people that can say my real name

Some days I feel my skin turning back

A darker shade close to black

And I hear my roots calling me home

But most days I know I am not alone

In feeling so far away from home

We’re all immigrants after all

Waiting for the call

To return to heaven

Change

They wonder why

She sits there

Speaking language she didn’t choose

Getting much too close

To forgetting her mother tongue

Wings sealed in a box

Her brown locs

Painted blonde

They wonder why she changed

She only did it

To survive