Apparently it's #BlackPoetryDay!
This one is dear to me. It was inspired by the author hearing someone judge a Black poet for having the audacity to write about something other than trauma. Often when events are focused on a person's identity, that's what's expected: Look! We gave you space! Now perform your pain so that we can feel good & helpful, & be entertained!
Eff that.
We'll only ever achieve full equity when no one is expected to perform their wounds.
#Poetry
https://poets.org/poem/how-can-black-people-write-about-flowers-time
(I should also add that this poem is a bit of Rorschach test, because its closing imagery can be read two different ways depending on whether *you* can't help but see Black trauma even in a poem in which a Black person compares themself to a flower capable of being scattered to bits in a heartbeat. Tons of food for thought here about the cultural expectations we bring to the work we read.)