the summer of my sista

you stole my womb, sista
that sordid summer
when
you were my June


that joyful july
when the sky sat still to watch us
spread a wicked wild fire
on treeless streets

sista
i saw you smear her brown face
disfigure her soft taupe
and cloak her in burnt red

you ripped her
right from my arms
sista
you made her call you mother
then set fire to my name

and sista
i’ve been trying not to love you the same
way i did last summer


becauase sista, you hurt me
real ditch deep
then told me to get over it
like you don’t ever bleed

and we both know you do.

see sista
i loved her saccharine sweet
how she kicked
my tangerine tummy with her black feet
how she caught the rhythm
of my movement
and danced inside of me

it was you who helped to plant the seed
inside of the barren land
i could never reach
alone

sista do you remember
our side by side
summertime?

how we sank into the seared
summer blind?
watching the world
with soft smiles
in hard homes.

sista
do you remember
big black girl bike rides
in place of telephones?

those days when
our laugh
shook the city
before it all got this gritty
before you got so greedy
before summer
stopped her seething.

but sista
i saw her the other day
bouncing real fine
yeah, she was happy, round and brown
as my new full belly

and i was happy
to see her dancing
even if she didn’t remember
the auntie
who carried her
breathed life
inside her flat back

she never
had the chance to be held in my hands
but it is in her blood to know my dance

and
i am happy to see her dancing

z.bediako