Def Poetry: Staceyann Chin- "If Only Out Of Vanity" (Official Video)

....She has easily become my poetic twin, the poet I hope to be sometime in the future

We got a love like
The birds and the bees, like
Calm days with summer breezes, I
Never knew that peace could feel this right
Right? Peace
Like he's my sleep at night
He just might be my white knight
Because he lights my nights so bright
Pitch black
Like going blind
Hell, he could be my eyes if I ever lose sight
I'm just saying, it's kinda nice
That a breakup song
He makes me want to rewrite
like a right done wrong
His words take flight
Without wings he makes me want to fly
Flyer than most, even when he's grounded
He's elevated so high
If I ever were to float
It's his breath that gives me height
Grants me life, like atoms we share alike
If I'm the rib to him, like Adam and Eve
Then I think he's just found his wife.

"You love once. It may not be gold but love with passion and it lasts forever."- D. Thompson

"A Haiku is like a quickie: you have to pay attention or you'll miss it"- Staceyann Chin

Naps

“You need to pick yo afro daddy,

Because its flat on one side.

You need to

Pick yo afro daddy.

Because its flat on one side.

Well, if you don’t pick yo afro,

You gonna have one side high.”

You are going to have one side high

If you don’t adjust your sight

Acknowledge the right

For me to embrace me

I see you

 Checking me out

You notice that I’m beyond their eyes

Their boxed in lies

As real as they come

Because I’ve got no lye

Addicted to that oh so creamy crack

So good that it burns through ya insides

Pre processed

Overly obsessed

Sodium Hydroxide

Seeped through ya mind

Fried, dyed, laid to the side

And your less than 30 minutes away

From results of becoming

Smarter

Brighter

A little bit whiter

They cannot brainwash you

If you’re already doing it to yourself

Side effects may vary but they all imply

That

I will never be taken seriously

The words I perceive that far less worth

To your superiority

The genius I conceive will never be enough

As long as I don’t conform to the

West European ethnocentricity

Because my hair has too much of

Its own identity

The versatility is endless

With each strand is minding its own

Business.

And

He will never be into her

As long as she has an afro

honestly black men don’t dig the natural

so

She either has to find a pressing comb, flat iron

Or some Dark and Lovely

So much so that she starts to hate herself

Hides her roots on the monthly

Until her hair is as frail and submissive

As her spirit

Is losing yourself really worth it?

Its an unattractive fact

My daughter will constantly

Be told that

She’s not good enough when

Even straight hair comes on

Her black Barbie dolls

Mommy, is there something wrong?

I mean, am I ugly?

They imply that

I’ve got hair thicker than the

Societal comb will ever be able to

Get through

Detangle

All its kinks

It must be straightened out

Along with the way I think

Seem impossible

But your teeth are too narrow

With each twisted strand

Holds a little more knowledge

And the kind of realities

That they don’t teach in college

We’ve all got to acknowledge

That it all started

With the root

No matter how hard you try to hide it

So remains the truth

Whether it curls, coils, stick out straight

kinks

Potent and inevitable

It will always be.

“If you don’t pick your afro,

You gonna have one side high”

Insignia

Letter To My Closest

Love Drunk

Hi my name’s Danielle

And I’m addicted to love

Not just any love, but loving you

Loving you so much that it hurts

I’m still hung over from last night

Inebriated by the smell of your cologne

That manages to linger on my pillow

And damn, I should have burnt it but

Even after acceptance sobers my reality

Heartbreak still has me drunk

Taking shots to the head

No chaser

As if anything could dilute the sting of the truth

And being hurt is nothing new

So why am I a lightweight when it came to you?

Because life was a party when it came to you

Now your banishment has left me with a habit

And no clue to of how to recover

From the routine of being next to you

I need rehab

How is the single life suppose to be a rehab

When I can’t help but to relapse

Quickly losing my firm grasp of what love is

Suppose to be

Remedy

Therapy

Instead I’m 10 shots deep

This heart of mine is pretty damn close to

Suffering from a love-aholic’s poisoning

And all I want to do is sleep on any possibility

That there is anyone even out there for me

I can’t take another day of being this

Intangible day dream

This convenience coupon whose points never get

Redeemed

Its incomprehensible to only have wanted

The surprise of unexpected flowers but instead

Get handed a tower of tissues

Realizing that

The bitch in me was overpowered by the revelation

 That you misused me

And this current state of intoxication does nothing

To shake the fact from my memory.

Something about being this beside myself

Makes life so angry

Damn

I miss the days when I wasn’t clenching

To the wine glass of your memory

Our happiness was my sobriety

Where mental numbness

Wasn’t needed to put me to sleep

I’ve got that lover’s itch

Your visual enigma has me addicted

And I don’t want to go another 24 hours

Without experiencing the sweet taste

Of those lips

The withdrawals are too intense

I mean,

Do they even have centers for recovering lovers?

Cause I need a 12 step program or something

To get me over this hump,

Get me out of this slump

The days are taking forever to pass by

Hurt is losing its ability to quench my thirst

And the farther I become immersed to

Keep these emotions numb

The harder it is to reverse the permanent effects

Please, if only I could

Intersect,

Disconnect

Redirect myself to the path of

Positive recuperation

I could be…. Clean

Fine Dining

You say you want the most of me  

Can only take me in doses ,see

This is what you get when you overstep

Your boundaries

The lowest level of my complexities

Can’t even be digested by your mental abilities

Unable to harbor the capacity

So I think it’s time for some antacid tablets

Ease ya mind of these intellectual gases

Before it builds up, disaster strikes

And you’re brain farting to the masses

Let’s not overdo it baby

You’ve got to know your limit

And I want this fullness to be constant

This friendship to always satisfy

Even after the relationship fails to no longer

Relate you to me

Take it slow

Pace yourself

I said, take it slow

Pace yourself

Because the “itis” is real

And can leave you in a comatose state

Like a fine wine this mind must be

Sipped slowly

To truly appreciate its beauty

So small bites baby

Savor all of the flavors

Acknowledge all dimensions of the dish

How they work together so

It’ll be hard to find me inedible

After all, fine dining should not be

Comparable to

The meals indulged

Off of the dollar menu

Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze

Bold and innovative, we remember Jimi.

I AM  AMERICA. I AM THE PART YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE.

BUT GET USED TO ME.

BLACK, CONFIDENT, COCKY; MY NAME, NOT YOURS; MY RELIGION, NOT YOURS; MY GOALS, MY OWN; GET USED TO ME- MUHAMMAD ALI

Do The Right Thing (Race Rant Scene)

Spike Lee not only exposes this issue of race in America, but pushes far past the envelope to show its reality. Sad part about it is, that even after twenty years later, these very exact problems still exist.

I, Too- Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Beside,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America

Why Even Have History If You're Not Going To Celebrate It?

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."- Carter G. Woodson