featuring Shelley Parris of The Womb Sanctuary
Oriana's Note: This original poem was originally published publicly on Facebook by the author on 5-28-2020 and is used with permission. Fanoos Magazine stands with all People of Color facing the magnitude of these trying times in solidarity.
STOP waiting until another beautiful black or brown body drops
to finally call them
Sacred
and only then
want to honor
and uplift them
while their blood spills
warm on the
pavement
T-shirt
Signs
Anger
Rage
Fires Blaze
Rinse
Repeat
Cycle
Back to sleep
we go
Insert
wait
for the next
hashtag
I have seen
beautiful pictures
of my siSTARS
marching city streets
Sage High
Smudge Salute
in protest
Tears in
their eyes
Imprinted with the
Grotesque
Treatment of a
Nation's Beast
tattooed on our
Hearts and Mind
sole Purpose to break us
Over and
Over Again...
someone commented
under one of the photos...
'let us immerse them
with the fragrance
of our pain...
each and every time
they hurt us we burn
incense and
say their name'
But what if we didn't
wait until another knee
to the neck,
18-shots-make-sure
You-ain't-coming-back
Visions and rows
of warm
lined bodies
laid out cold
in the streets
No Matter How
Many Times
You Scream
Want to uplift and honor
those bodies
You never
Gonna
resurrect
how bout
I no longer
want to be
immersed
in a fragrance of
pain/hurt/tragedy
the essence of still
lifeless bodies
dangling from my neck
like another accessory
inspired to live
only when you die
in front of me
this attraction to death
the calling and
Invocation
Really...
What we be inviting in.
What if
instead
we went to out streets
daily,
on each corner
sage high
/smudging in the spirit
of our Great Ancestors/
choosing to honor
one another in LIFE
In ALIVEness
With prayer/ with altars
and flowers
and fruits
and sweet oils/
pouring libations
and singing
birthing Joy
from our Glorious Bellies
Dancing, Drumming
Kiss Your Forehead
Sing Your Praises
When You Be LIVE Enuff
to Feel the Embracing
of Divine Words and Power Caressing You
Sweetly
Cuz I see
YOU
the Holiest of Holies
The House
Where God Supreme
Resides
That's the Vision/Vibration
I erect and BE
Keepin Alive
Death
Be Not
Proud
Cus God Knows
My spirit be tired of
waitin for the rain
to wash away
these bloodstains-
Of another beautiful
black and brown body
let not their life
be a sacrifice
Given Up in vain
I Call in Life
I Call in Light
No Mo Struggle for me
I won't dance with it no mo
For my babies
and grandbabies
and all those who
come after I,
by the power
invested in me
endowed by
My Ancestors
ten thousand
STRONG
I invoke Greater.
Shelley Parris is a holistic practitioner and the owner of The Womb Sanctuary; a Scared Place for Women to be Seen, Heard and Loved. Shelley is an advocate for Women's wellness and Selfcare; and is also a published author and gifted speaker. She frequently partners with and supports our local Dance community in order to offer well-rounded resources for women to explore the Infinite Possibilities in their lives. thewombsanctuary.com