Poetry
2018
All 2018 Poetry (a-z)
Editor’s Choice
A Case of Cold Feet (after Beloved) by Basheera Agyeman
Basheera Agyeman’s poem, “A Case of Cold Feet (after Beloved)”, intertwines many literary devices and images to empower the words that weave its impactful narrative. Her use of repetition is striking and builds the emotion of this piece while effectively setting pace for readers. Her original imagery engages the imagination and propels the tone of melancholy into the forefront. Though all of our published poems show great amounts of skill, Agyeman’s abilities are inspiring. A writing career to keep one’s eye on for sure.
My womb spoke to me last night
Told me she was afraid
Afraid to bear black boys
Afraid to bear black girls
Afraid to bear black anyone into a white man’s world.
She told me it’s not worth it anyways
Told me black boys were much more likely to piss on you when you changed their diapers
and that black girls were much more likely to give you sass and talk back even after you have explicitly forbidden both.
She told me she had heard
it hurts to give life anyways.
That if I was not careful —
She would open up her seams to birth some tiny, pretty things
And that unless by some miracle they arrived the color of cream,
They would not be
completely mine
anyways.
About Basheera Agyeman
Basheera Agyeman is a Ghanaian-American Muslim student. She is a senior at Washington State University double majoring in Comparative Ethnic Studies and French. This past winter, Basheera was named WSU’s first Campus Civic Poet. In addition to performing spoken word and engaging in activism, Basheera is a student mentor for the African American Student Center as well as President of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, WSU chapter. After graduation she is looking forward tobecoming a writer, scholar, and an educator. She also hopes to continue engaging in movements against social injustice.