March 30, 2022

sonnet for everything that makes you uncomfortable about protecting black women
- tori ashley matos 

“I am so perfect, so divine, so ethereal, so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission” — Nikki Giovanni 

you have never oiled her scalp when she couldn’t sleep.

when she cries you wonder when she gone stop.

you live in fear that one day she’s gonna say
what the fuck she really means.

you cannot imagine a day when she might need you.

you know that your mama never lied
when she said she could take you out if she wanted to.

above all—she dreams!
what a godless way to pray!

and it comes at you fast

that maybe she is
the god you were taught to fear
and maybe to fight for her
is to fall helpless to your knees.