NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, DAY FOUR

(After Ollie Woods's day-three poem "Free Write for Queendom")

BLACK LITERATURE 

You're my favorite free verse
Been studyin' you my whole life
Amazed at your levels of fortitude
How you wield your brilliant mind
Over so many matters
Ones that have killed others
But only made you stronger

Been watchin' you work that secret ingredient
In your DNA
Making you phoenix
Hugely sought
Flavor and favor unlimited
They all want it
But it can't be bought
You're no longer being sold
You're a free verse
Striding uninhibited through life
Sporting your melanin
Like the finest African couture
Telling the kinds of stories you want
With the endings you deserve
Baptizing souls with your zest
Stardust, they should call you
Cuz their systems call for you
Cry and reach for you
Yet they can never get high enough
To reach your heights
Can't get your potent effect
Anywhere else

Neither can I

Your embrace
Organic
Robust and consoling
Pure in its intention
To showcase love
Your gentle graze a light sweetener
Your aroma arousing my senses
Your steady breaths
A mood elixir
I wanna savor
So my pores sip your clutch slowly
Consume all your medicinal properties
Make sure my spirit is quenched and healed
Before you're gone

Your laugh
A djembe rhythm
Pulsating in your throat
Powered by generations of triumph
Ancestors Zulu dancing
In your belly
Stomping out your stress
Making your roar
That much more vibrant
Your joy contagious

Your smile
An eighth-grade dance
Filled with mystery
Mischief
Chance
Serving me all the feels
Giggles and butterflies
Baiting me
Luring me closer
Urging me to relax in your space
Your eyes
Strobe-lighting my path
Inviting me to engage
In your lively offerings
And enjoy my stay

I accept

You're my favorite free verse:
Uncensored
Unpredictable
Perfectly unstructured
With a message of omnipotence
Made clear

©2018 Charlene E. Green
You Betta WRITE!

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, DAY THREE

THWART

Always bring love to
a hate fight; shift bitter hearts
with spite Kryptonite

©2018 Charlene E. Green

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, DAY TWO

SURROGATE

Nourish your heart via
mine; feed on its beats when yours
needs strength to push through

©2018 Charlene E. Green

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, DAY ONE

GARDEN

Scorned my growth process,
now wanna reap my beauty
and favor? DENIED!

©2018 Charlene E. Green

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH 1/30: JEOPARDY HAIKU: DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR FOR $1000

"Beat, smash, pound, bang, hit—"
"What is: No love from men for
women's vaginas!"

©2017 Charlene E. Green

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH |3/30|: ICE CREAM FOR DINNER

On the nights
She would
Binge on its sweet
The day had been
A bitter pill
Jammed down her throat
Dry

The flood of its richness
Dislodged her ire 
Its arctic foxtrot through her cells
Numbing the ache
Of life's gut punches and body shots
Every calorie vital
To augment her spindly nerves

To cook a meal
Would suggest she had stamina
A hunger for the savory
But her demons
Frequently broke bread together
Made a buffet of her appetite
Toasted repeatedly to their treachery
Guzzled her spirit
And left her to deteriorate

But there was always ice cream
Therapist without inquiry
Only panacea for her ills
Silent comrade
With caring smile
Refuge from the firing line
Luxury like
Sturdy flannel PJs
And chin-hugging electric comforters
Mid-blizzard 
Enough apology for her troubles
To pacify her sunken heart

And when the carton was depleted
So
For the time being
Were her woes

©2016 Charlene E. Green

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH |2/30|: RUNNER

i see you

laid out for him

in your full-length glory

extending yourself

across his foundation

protecting your coveted space

so inviting

so perfectly situated

for him to use you

like the accessible
trusty door mat 

that you are

i understand you

and my soul cries for you

because the thing about being a runner is
you're never positioned
to elevate
from the ground floor
of his world

always faithfully there
at the entryway
waiting for him
to return
hoping to glean
from the vibration
of his footsteps
where he's been all day
without you
his feet
the only parts of him
you can look forward
to connecting with
the rest of him
belongs to a life
he will never
think enough of you
to let you experience with him

you must know your place
stay
in your place
at all times

do not ask to be moved
to a spot
where people will know you exist
where you'll be seen in the light of day with him
like you are in your torturous dreams

you do not get
outdoor privileges
ever

your job
is to be there
in the darkness
when he arrives
prepared to let him
wipe the ambiguous remnants
of his fulfilled days
all over your curiosity
days you best not question
days you needn't concern yourself with
days you'll spend every night
inserting yourself into
through your fantasies
where he'll introduce you
to his people
finally give you identity
where you'll watch him smile
as your nectarous flavor
leftover from his morning feast
clings to his palate
like wildflower honey
enraptures his taste buds
oozes from his mouth
dangles from his lips
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
where you wish
your name hung
like customized decor
for general viewing
where you wish
he praised you
where you wish
you could hear his secrets

where you wish
you weren't housed as one

where you wish
you could press
your lips
in a public display of affection
where you wish
he would say
i love you
afterward
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
but the thing about being a runner
is
deep down
you already know
the most attention you'll ever get
is when you're not properly secured
to be walked on

©2016 Charlene E. Green
From my upcoming poetry book You Betta Write!
www.hustledivaspeaks.com

NAPOWRIMO 10/30 (HAIKU): MORNING

Wake me with fresh-squeezed
hope flowing from my pores to
water my faith drought

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 9/30 (HAIKU): RESTORATION

You are hurricane
powered to reset balance;
cyclone yourself new

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 8/30 (HAIKU): PLACES, EVERYONE

Fine to admire
folks, but make room for yourself
on the pedestal

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 7/30 (HAIKU): DEFLATE

They probably don't
notice you cuz your ego
is blocking their view

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 6/30: TEETH

I've been using my teeth
to do more than eat
for a long time.

Truth is
I do bite.
I've been known to
escape from behind
my gate of civility
sink my fangs
into people's feelings
and leave more
than flesh wounds.

I've hurt many
with my
Quick Draw McGraw tongue.
Used to blast folks
without thinking
caring
cuz I felt like saying
what I wanted
and if you
had a problem with it ...
So.
What.

Used to say things
to vex people on purpose.
Sometimes ...
it was an accident.
I spoke when my emotions
were raw.
Made people cry.

A family member
disowned me for four years
after I ripped out
her jugular.

Came unhinged
in my mother's peaceful home
right in front of her
when I released all
of my unfiltered Leo
on an ex-boyfriend
and let the savage lion
living in the back of my throat
mangle his face
through the phone

Scared her speechless.

She had never seen
a tornado
until that day
when it whirled
from my lips
for five minutes
and blew her roof off.

She tried to stifle my storm
but was too verklempt
to fully interrupt me.

I was sorry I scared her.
Not sorry I pummeled him.
Still not sorry.

Those are the consequences
if you trample
on my boundaries
and my wrath
isn't properly contained.

These days
I'm wiser
more tactful
compassionate.
I reassess
the toxins
I wanna release
before they abscond from me
and ruminate on
the potential outcome
of my onslaught.

Then
I call on my teeth.

Thank goodness for my teeth.

They're my
referees
padlocks
prison bars.

When my tongue
goes all slip 'n' slide
and mean-girl words
pull out their shanks
climb aboard
and begin their descent
my teeth
are my saving grace.

I grind them
clench them
fake-smile
through them

anything

to trap the assailment
in my mouth
keep the words from
falling to my regret

and the death
of people's esteem.

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 5/30: 411

some of them
won't like you
will think you're less than
will never be interested
in who you are

they'll sneer at you
your efforts
nickname you Road Kill
whenever it seems like life
is mowing you down

they'll cackle
like bourgie hyenas
at your misfortune
behind your back
sometimes right in your face
with their volatile breath
close enough for you to spit in theirs
and you will
but only in your mind

won't offer assistance
cuz they want you to fail
wanna watch you tussle
for your life
like the freshly pummeled road kill
they see you as
from the front row
shoveling popcorn and Bon Bons
into their scummy mouths
during the show
pointing out all your faults
yelling at you from their seats
about your screw-ups
how incompetent you are
how they would handle things better
if they were in your shoes

and you'll wonder
why these hooligans exist
why they chose you
as their daily entertainment
why with them around
your life feels like
a horror movie

BUT ...

if viewed properly
they can be the key
to unlocking your beast mode
unleashing your unlimited potential
all the confidence you think you don't have
the strength you've been challenged to muster
they can help you reach a level of badass
you didn't know existed

so use them
they're your reflection
sending you a message
one that wouldn't show up
unless it applied to you

you're not road kill
inadequate
a failure
but if we're honest
sometimes you feel like it
and you attract what you feel
even when you don't realize you feel it

people show up
to show you
you
to teach you
things you didn't know
about your state of mind

pay attention

cuz none of what they say
would affect you
if you didn't think it were true
on some level

people don't "make" you feel insecure
you wake up like that

you're a trove
of unfinished business
that needs to be tackled
in order for you to shine

your whole game will change
when you finally realize
hooligans
are nothing but you
pushing you
to be brave enough
to dig into your darkness
find your light

and blind them


Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green
From the upcoming poetry book You Betta WRITE!

NAPOWRIMO 4/30: SHERO

She says "up there"
is the only place her heart
is safe

says
when she looks above
and confides in the heavens
the clouds don't judge
they're superheroes
that rush to her rescue
absorb her anguish
like cotton
imprison it
in their puffy padded rooms
to keep her out of
the one she's on her way to
and keep her in her right mind

about

everything gone wrong
dreams that slipped through the cracks
cuz she hadn't found ways
or enough faith
to seal their fate

about

everyone who wants for her
things she doesn't
and wants from her
what she's never bothered
to give herself

about

having little to show for her life
cuz she's too busy
living for others
feeding their souls a sumptuous buffet
while she
pecks at their crumbs
after they've scarfed and run
without so much as a thank you
leaving her malnourished
they
fat and full off her care
she
emaciated
starved for her own attention
no energy left to even honor
her basic requirements

"no" is the only song
her esteem plays
cuz "yes" is the tune
she shimmies to
when they sing the blues
and she
is the only one
attending their concerts

but today is different

there are no clouds
to shelter her woes
nowhere to suspend her pain
nothing
but a vast expanse
of sapphire
a slate cleaner
than her own conscience

and the message is clear:
it's time to embrace this life
her decisions
her living in lack
for lack of courage
to be stronger
live better

and

superheroes only exist
within
when we become them
when we sew on a weather-proof cape
and fly to our own rescue
wielding inexhaustible superpowers

that the stratosphere
can no longer be
her enabler
will no longer play host
to her misery

it has done all it can
to trump the deceivers
lasso the villains
and slay the monsters

the rest
she'll have to handle alone 

Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 3/30: SCHOLASTICS

I’m not here to play

you

are not a childhood schoolyard game

a recess pastime

for kicks

and

this is not 5^th grade

I’m grown-woman status

I

graduated from puppy love

my pursuit is

doctorate

in your program

amass all facts

produce flawless dissertation

stay fully apprised

of your prerequisites

say nothing

I’ll know you

like my undisclosed next move

test me, love

I will ace you

closed-book

my hand

blanketing your heart

every night

while you sleep

thumping your history

your destiny 

into my grasp

where I’ll palm-read you
daily

across the grooves

of my lifelines

will be all the answers

I’ll need

to slide summa cum laude

effortlessly

into your soul

Copyright 2014

Charlene E. Green
From my upcoming book You Betta WRITE!

NAPOWRIMO 2/30: DESIGNATED DRIVER

It’s not that I'm short on daily narration

I got plenty of stories I wanna tell

thing is

these sagas

are sometimes like

an unruly gaggle

of drunken teens

stampeding out of

the party in my head

at the same time

stumbling over each other

my brain an unattended parking lot

that they trash

with incohesive dialect

that I scramble to gather

and turn into stimulating accounts

to no avail

and in this precarious state

I’m no longer their monarch

they have no respect for me

don’t follow my directions

don’t give a damn

what I want from them

that I expect them

to display decorum

show up for me

rep my position properly

instead

they’re my bastard children

on a rampage

refusing to be tamed

during their circus act

leaving me unable

to regain dominion

and drive them to my page

without incident

Copyright 2014

Charlene E. Green

NAPOWRIMO 1/30: SORRY

I will not apologize
for doin' me
tendin' to my business
havin' my own back
at a moment's notice
no regard for whether you
like
understand
approve
or not

won't feel "some kinda way"
cuz you're uncomfortable
with the pace of my life
the depth and length
of my challenges
my perceptions
how I embrace
what's on my plate

this
is my meal
and I'll season it
how I damn well please
it's supposed to be
to my liking
not
yours

if I feel I can benefit
from some of your flavoring
then I'll ask
for two shakes
but rest assured
I'll be monitoring them
to make sure
you only throw in two
cuz
I know how you can be
give you the chance
to spice things up
and start "accidentally"
tossin' in extra dashes
of all the substances
that upset my stomach
you know
the usual suspects:
judgment
sarcasm
ridicule
and dismissal
when what I invited
you to add
were
wisdom
and encouragement

two
shakes

but since you sometimes
don't know how to act
and forget who's head chef
in my world
then please believe
I won't be sorry
when I shut you down
mid-sprinkle
and tell you
the kitchen
is closed


Copyright 2014
Charlene E. Green