Yolanda Wisher
Told my man
The other day if I was you
Id get a nose ring colored
Aquamarine. Dye my hair
Blonde. Braid it with red
Yarn. Change my birth
Day so wed be on the same
Moon. He beat me.Just to hear you speak on fires
And stroke yourself to come
On paper, I risk the laundry
Money at Borders. Imagine that
Someone hit you for being wild
Enough to pleasure your own.He blind to the fact I hide
Your books behind the toilet.
Takes a shit and smokes a Black
And Mild. Dangle my feet
Over the heat vent. Light
An incense. Despite him
I be with you.
Yolanda Wisher recently received her M.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry from Temple University. She is currently a highschool English teacher at Germantown Friends School, as well as a fellow at Cave Canem, a retreat for black poets. Yolanda is co-founder of the community arts collective Poetry for the People.