part one:
do you know what it means to be someone’s nightmare?
a glance from me is enough to terrify you
the way i talk and breathe sends shivers down your spine
when i move, you make a point to dash out of this alleged path of destruction
in meetings, my opened mouth makes you nervous
i take your loved ones and turn them into people you don’t know
people who are not afraid
your smile looks like it is hurting your face
it is amazing how a girl like me
can carry so much power
this outstretched hand
knows what it wants
and always gets it
your fear is fitting
wrong is not my name
part two
do you know what it means to be someone’s nightmare?
to always be aware of how much space you take up?
to pad everything you say with softness, to live to alleviate and massage their fear?
you see, i know
i know that everyday
i make parents hug their children
at age 7, 15, 21, i hear their warnings
do not go near her, you will not know what to do, you might embarrass us
people will think you like those kind of people, that there is something wrong with you too
don’t you know? that girl will not be able to give you babies, you will end up providing for her
i’m not even sure what is so scary about the body i inhabit
but i hear that
everyday
part three:
do you know what it means to be someone’s nightmare?
i do
when messages of my monstrosity start to slip in and become part of my consciousness (it always does, i am not superhuman),
i take my finger and trace out june jordan’s words
i am not wrong, wrong is not my name, my name is my own my own my own
friends remind me that i am no one’s nightmare, but rather the realization of so many dreams
the product of praying grandmothers
of resilience, of survival
it is fear talking
i refuse to listen
so if you wonder why i call everything an industrial complex (my friend said that yesterday)
or why i am not interested in your diversity bullshit
it is because i am already told everyday that we are occupiers, squatters, inhabitants, outcasts living on the margins
of society
of good
of right
and baby, i don’t need your reminder
-
“I am not wrong: Wrong is not my name
My name is my own my own my own
and I can’t tell you who the hell set things up like this
but I can tell you that from now on my resistance
my simple and daily and nightly self-determination
may very well cost you your life”
-June Jordan
[...] crossposted at cripchick’s weblog [...]
Posted by Wrong Is Not My Name « Raven’s Eye on March 21st, 2009.
A stunning poem. You are just so amazingly talented.
Posted by DaisyDeadhead on March 21st, 2009.
God damn. That is powerful.
Posted by Julia on March 21st, 2009.
Wow.
Posted by terri on March 22nd, 2009.
I posted about this in an LJ community I’m in (sex_and_race). I seriously fucking love this poem. I love the language. I love how you repeat aspects of it. I love the intersectional layers of identity and layers of fear. And those are also layers of strength, power and love. Seriously loving this and still digesting.
Posted by Julia on March 22nd, 2009.
Blows my mind, you sure have a way with words!
<3
Posted by Miss Gonzo on March 23rd, 2009.
[...] You deserve to be loved? Did you earn it? [...]
Posted by The Things We Earn « Raven’s Eye on March 26th, 2009.
this is awesomely powerful. linking it :)
Posted by shiva on March 29th, 2009.