Spoken Rules

She said
Don’t marry a Black man 
They don’t treat you right
She said
Don’t braid your hair 
It’s not good for the hair
It’ll break it
She said
She said she could tell if we braided it anyway
She said she could tell if you dated him anyway 
The way your hair is split and broke on the ends
The way you walked and spoke on the ends of sidewalks 
And sentences.
Became more defiant
You take on more of him
She said
Grandpa said a woman does what a man does?
Or her man does?
But will he do what I do?
Does he or even want to?
She said take my jewelry before I die
They’re going to take it anyway
They are going to steal it 
Pick through my house when I’m gone
Your grandpa won’t stop it
He’ll let them take from me 
And you too
She said 
He didn’t say anything
Just looked 
Like she said he would
Like she said he would
Like she said he would
And she got buried in the wooded casket
In the woods 
Of her ancestors and mine
Of her beginnings and mine
Of her part of the earth and mine
I keep parting my hair waiting for her to speak in my ear
Tell me no

Spoken Rules

Folk poet and visual artist of African American descent

Kamaria Shepherd

Popular tracks