baby

when you sprang forth from her

did you have any idea

that your embattled mass

would be the proud flesh

she would hold in her arms?

that your life

was tied to her life?

that her life

was your life ?

that she like our sisters

all bleed in their beds

because all of our beds

are the same

and we will always

bleed in them

some of us

more than others

but we will always bleed

in them

there is with your breath

a battle cry

one that she labored for

that she pushed out

for your strength

baby, you were not born

you were birthed

and so on

and so on

– Sheila C.

Advertisements

I know I never left

you must find my hair coiled in your bathroom

i brushed so many knots out near your sink

i must’ve covered it with fingerprints

i must’ve left my sweat

and my breath in the shape of sighs

and gasps

on your glass

in your air vents

I know i’ve never left

not really

not in any sense

– sheila c.

prayers

I think about my grandmothers prayers

under a sunburst ceiling

it was an old blood color

sort of red brown and muddied

I think she wanted my freedom

and god couldn’t see another way

I clearly can’t give life

I’m all dead leaves inside

a manufactured product

of a man who did not hold me

i can’t use your god’s tools

they were never meant for me

– Sheila Cordova

blueness

i know i can’t fit you

in a glass

but boy,

i try

i spend the days measuring you

hanging on your tongue

inhaling your tone

you’re a language

i remember from

another life

you speak to something

lost in me

something I alone

couldn’t find

i drink you slowly

i take you in

like time

my pulse quickens

but my mind softens

underneath you

under you

you are the minute

before sunset

when the day glows

just so

and pink covers

the blinding blueness

that I’ve known

– sheila c