3 poems
Self Portrait as Hoodie
black
woman
be
hoodie
hovering
ovah
what
remains
of
her
husband’s
woolly
mane
she
be
angel
of
fleece
kissing
his
scalp
golden
she
be
blockin’
blows
with
crushed
softness
she
be
darkness
clinging
to
his
skin
she be black ten/ der/ ness lingering
Afro Beautiful
We are cuddled
in a breakfast joint.
Our feelings
simmering
like fish & grits.
I gaze at his full lips.
He blows the
black
in his coffee & sips.
I swear this yellow boy
be Afro beau /
ti /
ful
My heart be the steam
in his cup.
A Song for You
Come, my love. Drape your whiskey-colored skin
around my brown flesh, cape-like, so we can wear each other.
Bless me with the fullness of your body on the porch
of my imagination. Come, and I promise to touch you whole.
Please hurry, hurry, my love, before I am a field
of daffodils out yonder.
Lolita Stewart-White is a poet who lives and works in Miami. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and Cave Canem fellow. Her work has appeared in Callaloo, Kweli, Rattle, Beloit Poetry Journal and Green Mountain Review.