African Voices Spring 2020 AVSPRING2020 | Page 20

Paint Me Real
dedicated to Ntozake Shange for coloring my journey with love & courage
Paint me real
Show the war marks
on my face, the scars
on my soul,
a smile struggling to remain
in place haphazardly on accident scene
carefully slipping fingers between spaces in iron-gate,
pricked skin, new red blood flows freely
over old welts,
reminders of past rescue
attempts
But don’t stop there,
paint rhythm
in my hips
and the sensual
curves of my lips a girl trapped,
no older than six,
yearning for home,
a family reunion with self
Paint me real,
a dancing Libran spirit
chasing the air with dreams
while swimming the ocean
Treading water midway
Hands and feet tired,
Mind wary, spirit afire
sensing land ahead
Paint me real,
Ripped open scabs
Burning amber with
each honest stroke
against life’s ever evolving
canvas
paint me real,
a Frida Kahlo self-portrait,
complete with horrible small nips
fierce intellect, broken flesh
triumph woman spirit —
a flower skilled in the art of photosynthesis,
exhaling oxygen ‘cause
only air can sustain life.
© 2011-2020 Carolyn A. Butts, Loved: a working class girl’s song
Muddy the waters
Mix laugh lines and lifelines
‘til the colors vibrate
teeming with tales worth sharing
Create, inspire, discover
glory in sorrow,
sweetness in bitter tasting lime
Paint me real,
a thorn bearing flower,
aspiring to escape
cheap porcelain potted words
planted by pompous artisans
Paint me real
laughing through the terror
a blue prayer blanket
tucked inside silence
Got stuff stored away
behind barbed wire fence
“do not cross” signs posted
20
african Voices
Art: Shanna T. Melton