Niki Herd

In The Company
of Women
 
 
 
 

my first feminists lived on 131street &  kinsmen in cleveland / sported big bangle hoop  earrings / fly feathered doos w/ tails in back & freshly pressed sergio valente’s for picture day   nobody tried to quiet they voice  no one could misinterpret head angled on a down slope / forefinger pointing up / as a homegirl say um excuse you / you best be stepping off  off the runways of the ghetto  they were the women i wanted to be  with names like / LaNita / Jerita / Shondra   & Monique / these cornrow fake louis vuitton big   booty wearing grape blowpop smacking kick   ball playing wash cars on saturday black & proud spitting out nigga pleazes & show you rights  like it ain’t a thang  my name is keisha  yeah  they call me boo yeah i am a leo yeah my man is desi yeah let’s set it out you were the women could’ve been from anywhere / cute / cool & conversating  on classroom corners as street lamps heat much  jheri curl juice to the sounds of / my A-DI-DAS / defining you selves  w/ might on tongues in traditions of davis / giovanni / & / shange you were the women  the women i wanted to be owning your world double dutching into tomorrow  these words stand on playgrounds  in your memory / may your ears  rock to their beat

  (c)Herd 2004