ROY G. BIV

In loving homage to Ntozake Shange

Me, about 20 years ago (hand flew to mouth upon this realization)

ROY G. BIV

In loving homage to Ntozake Shange (who became an ancestor in the hours just before my 18th birthday)

Blood streaming down my legs onto my linen sheets

Mother’s favorite

Teeth stained with cold brew, neglected night after depressed night

A striped glass bong at the back of my closet

My box braids at their best and brightest, and my matching purse

The inky sky under which I drive home and wish things were different

Alice Walker’s words and worlds

This is how I understand God’s promise.

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Something short and sweet selected from the poetry I submitted for one of my final college projects. I am proud to announce here that last week, I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts in American Culture Studies (red white and blue cords) and Writing (no cords). This means many things, but most importantly for you, it means that I can adopt a regular publishing pace for the foreseeable future (knocking on wood a bit—I’ve never considered writing my “main thing,” but perhaps that needs to change).

I think I’ll continue sharing poems if people are into that sort of thing, as well as installations of EGGSHELLS and whatever other words I can conjure. Paid subscribers can look forward to reading the longform material I’ve been developing over the past couple of years. Either way, I’m excited to reveal much of the work that went into my degree, in addition to new ideas I’m now toying with postgrad.

As always, please let me know in the comments what you’d like to see from Parent Newsletter. I’m borderline desperate (so probably just desperate) to hear from readers.

Farewell for now,

Kennedy