Even if you rip weeds out of the earth

with your bare

Black woman hands,

the memory of the

weeds will linger.

 

Sprinkle salt water on the weeds

that smother your heirloom tomatoes.

 

Harvest the dandelion blossoms

for the honey wine recipe passed down

from generation to generation.

 

Gather chickweed to soothe

our skin and aching bones.

 

 

Till the soil.

Till the soil.

Till the soil.

 

Speak softly to the Knotweeds.

They will feed you in thin times

with their soft rendered leaves.

 

Pretty flowers are not the only ones

that can speak.

 

Listen closely to the dull drone

of the weeds.

 

They teach us

how to survive

under the threat

of everyday extermination.