Two Poems by Naomi Riggs

Beautiful Baby 

“Mama, do you think I’m pretty?” 
“No”, she says. 
“Your teeth are crooked 
Your hair—too thick 
A birds’ nest of pussy coils and naps 
Why yo head so motha-fucking nappy?
You need a silk press 
Your skin—too dark 
You stay out in the sun too long 
Your nose—too flat 
A wide animal shape, ya know? 
Your body—too big 
You need to drink some tea 
And matter of fact 
Watch what you eat 
I’m gon’ lock the fridge 
Ohhh yeah, you got that look no one can compare
The type that makes a person do a double take.
Ya know, to stop and stare? 
I can look at you alllll day 
Like many others do 
With a scowl 
With a muffled grin 
You look just like yo fuckin’ daddy.” 

---

Dear Art Thou In “Heaven” 

i am not your child 

if the human condition has, is, and always
will 
be duality 
multiplicity in nature 
then I need not you 
to flatten me 
to the first-dimension 

i need nor want 
to be ripped out 
of the nuanced gray of life
and placed 
“into the straight and narrow” 
of your black and white 

i am a human being who is experiencing the world 
day in 
and day out 
all by myself 
i need not you 
to grow and reach beyond  
this realm 
or the next

i need not you 
to demand me
restraint;
my needs, 
my wants, 
my desires—they’re mine
to do with as I please

I need not 
fear death 
or endure the troubling 
State of Conflict 
that is the reflection 
of life’s dizzying end; 
fire, eternal, or everlasting peace

i need not you 
to make me whole 
i am 
parts ready—and willing—
to become whole 
one day 
soon 

i think 
therefore I am 
and I 
am no child of yours