Next door a man is praying for the swelling of his fears to go down

Hides in the belly of his basement

This world has taught him to eat with both hands

Crave more than he can swallow

Till nothing is sweeter than the blood on his hands

He feels like an unwelcomed visitor in his own home

Only to step out where they welcome his sweat

He questions the softness in their hands

Where did they learn to pull skin so tight and do nothing of its bruises

-Jnelle

Wangari Muta Maathai

beautiful-afrique:

Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation and women’s rights. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”

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You kiss him

He tastes like last night’s sin

Smells of old lovers

He tells you he loves you in a way that makes your stomach swell

But instead of feeling full of him

You feel the weight of death

You search his eyes, but those are not the eyes of the man you love

You beg for them just the same

Beg for them to hold you naked

You know he does not love you anymore

But you beg

Prefer it over his absence

Too absent in yourself to know that there is no difference

So you cling to the hunger of yesterdays

Cradle the night until his return

But I must ask what will you do when there is no return

When the night breaks and dawn arrives empty handed

Will you then try to look for your own face in the sun

Instead of shadows

Instead of black smoke

Will you then look for love behind your skin

In the back of your ribs

Will you then wear your smile like it was your favorite piece of clothing

Not like a secret

Not like a sagging memory

Ill tell you this, you must do all of this now

Before there is a chance for a return

Return of same lovers

For they will come so long as you are there to greet them

-Jnelle