Another Lesson I Learned on the Porch
by Jae Nichelle
We’re masters at performing; we’ve been conditioned… we wear masks, while passing and posing to our conditions
that surround us. We are in the constant state of double consciousness. –Mickalene Thomas.
Jesus Christ was a superstar and his spotlight was under a zebra print lamp shade.
I picked you roses and lilies.
All clouds are afros. You look like me, you look like you keep too much storm inside you. Makes you heavy. You look like your head is heavy. You must not hear the walls, playing all these records at once, for you. You must have forgotten how to be both earth and sky. You must not feel me loving you.
You once wanted to be a bouquet. Vibrant and flourishing.
You feel like the Earth itself. You feel like someone keeps trying to put you there. You feel like me. You must not like flowers.
I named a throw pillow after you, on our couch.
There is irony in a cheetah-print throw. It is much like us. It is much like when decoration is made of the powerful. We are and we aren’t the lions we step on.
that surround us. We are in the constant state of double consciousness. –Mickalene Thomas.
Jesus Christ was a superstar and his spotlight was under a zebra print lamp shade.
I picked you roses and lilies.
All clouds are afros. You look like me, you look like you keep too much storm inside you. Makes you heavy. You look like your head is heavy. You must not hear the walls, playing all these records at once, for you. You must have forgotten how to be both earth and sky. You must not feel me loving you.
You once wanted to be a bouquet. Vibrant and flourishing.
You feel like the Earth itself. You feel like someone keeps trying to put you there. You feel like me. You must not like flowers.
I named a throw pillow after you, on our couch.
There is irony in a cheetah-print throw. It is much like us. It is much like when decoration is made of the powerful. We are and we aren’t the lions we step on.
Most well known for her poem on anxiety entitled "Friends with Benefits," Jae Nichelle is a young poet and spoken word artist currently residing in Atlanta. She was a member of 2017 Slam New Orleans and is the captain and founder of Tulane University’s Slam Poetry team: Rhyme Verses Rhythm. She placed fourth at the 2017 Texas Grand Slam poetry slam, and first at the 2017 Women on the Bayou slam. Her work has been featured in Vinyl, Freezeray Poetry, The Tulane Review, and Solstice Literary Magazine. Her website is http://www.jaenichelle.com
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June 2018
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June 2018