Author Kuukua Yomekpe prose poems, writing prompt

Ode to Audre

I found you while searching for books by other Black women, other immigrant women, other writing women, other queer women.  I didn’t know of you before then. Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to know because I wasn’t ready. back then, I was scared of queerness, skittish about writing, deathly afraid of Blackness, ashamed of claiming my … Continue reading Ode to Audre

Author Kuukua Yomekpe Mental Dis-Ease, prose poems

The Funk Has Rolled In

I calm down and forget to chase the processing/I settle for sitting beside her hand-in-hand/knowing this is not easy for either of us/I reach to hug her with the other hand/knowing the weight of my illness/is on her heart/knowing she herself is seeking support for her own demons/seeking support from a sinking ship

Author Kuukua Yomekpe prose poems, Social Commentary

I Hella <3 Oakland!

I stop staring at my feet/I refuse to let them intimidate me/I am clearly out of my element/this far down the 52 on AC Transit/I stash my inhaler/switch seats/await my stop with some anxiety/dreading the return trip/wishing cabs were not so expensive in the U.S./hoping the return trip will be less jarring on my bougie self/acknowledging/Black can never equate one experience