#black woman poetry | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jasminesuntrell · 14 days

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No More Fucking Butterflies (19/30)

I have decided the next man I meet who makes me nervous is getting blocked, walked away from- I'll run if I have to. No conversation, no glances, no more whirlwind romances, I'm not giving chances. I'm through.

Who the hell decided butterflies in the tummy was something to romanticize in the first place? For me, I think it's my body trying to tell me to get as far as I can from this demonic creature who will only cause me harm but I kept thinking it's a good thing if his presence can make me stumble over words.

Hell no.

Neutrality is the way to go. The man you're mostly unaware of until he gives you good reasons to be. The one who doesn’t prey on the unbalanced chemical reaction that happens when you lay eyes on him.

And maybe the love story won't be the stuff of an indie romance film but it will be stable and real. It won't give you more material from which to heal. It will provide you with bliss more enduring than the intoxications of fleeting butterflies.

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modestaesthetics · 7 months

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#melanin #pretty #blackgirlmagic #womens fashion #black woman #beautiful skin #poetry #melanin poppin #african beauty #modest #modesty #head wrap #black queen #beautiful women #black fashion #ebony #chocolate #brown skin

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taylorlq · 3 months

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the tortured poets department ,,

#͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏#taylor swift #the tortured poets department #taylor swift moodboard #moodboard #aesthetic #black and white #b&w #ts11 #woman #girls #poets #poetry

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aaknopf · 17 days

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Leila Mottley was regularly writing and performing poetry even before she published her novel Nightcrawling at only nineteen, in 2022; today we get an advance peek into her forthcoming first collection, woke up no light. Divided into hoods—sections on Girlhood, Neighborhood, Falsehood, and Womanhood—the poems instruct us, as here, in the art of noticing, speaking boldly, and feeling deeply.

what to do when you see a Black woman cry

stop. hum a little / just for some sound / just for a way to fill us up it is streetlamp time / all moon-cheeked black girls are mourning / a wailing kind of undoing don’t mistake this as a tragedy / it is sacred don’t mistake this as a glorious pain / we hurt.

don’t tell me it will be alright. make me a gourmet meal and don’t expect me to do the dishes after don’t try to hug me without asking first if i slept last night / if i need some jasmine tea / and a bath in a tub deep enough to fit my grief

and if i say i want a hug don’t touch my hair while you do it / don’t twist my braids around your fingers or tell me my fro is matted in the back from banging my head on the wall of so many askings

you think we are sobbing for the men, but we are praying for the men / their favorite sweat-soaked t-shirts we are screeching for our thighs for our throats / and our teeth-chipping / for the terror and the ceremony / and the unending always of this sky

so if i let you see a tear drip / if i let you see my teeth chatter know you are witnessing a miracle know you are not entitled to my face crack / head shake / sob but i do not cry in front of just anyone so stop. hum a little / just for some sound / just to fill me up

More on this book and author:

Learn more about woke up no light by Leila Mottley.

Browse other books by Leila Mottley and follow her on Instagram @leilamottley.

Click here to read Leila Mottley's curated list of recommended books about the San Francisco Bay Area.

Leila Mottley will be in Brooklyn for a Poetry Night reading and conversation with Tatiana Johnson-Boria at Books Are Magic (Montague Street location) on April 24, 2024 at 7:00 PM. The event will also be livestreamed for free on Youtube.

Visit our Tumblr to peruse poems, audio recordings, and broadsides in the Knopf poem-a-day series.

To share the poem-a-day experience with friends, pass along this link.

#MottleyAudio #poetry #knopf #poem-a-day #knopf poetry #national poetry month #poetry month #knopfpoetry #poem #Leila Mottley #woke up no light #what to do when you see a Black woman cry

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cocoabuttavasa · 6 months

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ne6retias take national holiday 👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾

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pagansphinx · 2 months

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Black History Month

Maya Angelou (American, 1928-2014)

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit

a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woma

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them

They say they still can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

#american women #maya anjelou #poet #essayist #black woman wrirer #american writer #african american woman of letters #poetry #contemporary poetry #american poetry #still i rise

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sladesymone · 1 year

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So, this is love🤎

#melanin #black love #black man #black woman #blackgirlmagic #brown skin #positive thoughts #black lives matter #meditation #beachside #lovers #love poetry #peaceful

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thatcakelovingwitch · 3 months

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Butch Marissa for the heart and soul

#i love both my marissa designs #she is my kind of woman #love her dearly #also i should write black out poetry for all my art tbh #its fun #marissa ng #marissa ng wbg #woe begone marissa #woe.begone #woe begone #w.bg #wbg fanart #little cake drawings #black out poetry

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jasminesuntrell · 4 months

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En Gratitud

I've been meaning to saunter my way back to this space but I always hesitate- Mostly because I have everything yet nothing I want to say and I'm often afraid of the words my brain amalgamates in haste. But, whoever you are wherever you are whatever you aren't- You are appreciated. The knowing that on any given day an unknown person out there might be reading these poems I write as an act of radical self-love, self-care, healing, resistance, resurrection, both medicine and illness, but mostly in hopes to understand and be understood could be out there understanding and being understood too helps me to feel I have done more than merely exist. For that feeling, I am immensely grateful.

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modestaesthetics · 7 months

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lllakristos · 2 months

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Pay attention to how they treat and talk about other people.

You're not an exception.

They will probably treat you the same way in times of crisis.

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kenyaraae · 5 months

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#me #black women #poets on tumblr #melanin #black woman writer #black luxury #poetscommunity #my poetry #black femininity #fashion

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shy-girl04 · 1 day

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no bees could labor

to make sweeter

the honey

your thighs

Maureen N. McLane

#poetry #words #maureen n mclane #woman #man #intimacy #black and white

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cocoabuttavasa · 23 days

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three’s a charm 🪄

with love,

B 🫀

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laity-lae · 7 days

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Things I actually like:

Haha, I just feel like being long winded today, but still. (I also like raisin buns, they are my favourite snack😭! Also please note english is not my first language for future and past reference -- I always be making typos in my captions.)

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i-want-to-be-a-poet · 21 days

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