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Issues » Strange Wests » Myth-making & The Archive » Anastacia-Renee

Volume VIII, Issue I Strange Wests – Myth-making & The Archive section banner

Anastacia-Renee

(See) I Told You I Was A Bad Girl In The West

that’s right
i’m a bad girl
the baddest girl
in the west
i get my socks wet
cuz i skip down the
street & smash puddles
with my lips shining
right with shea butter
& my knees open in the day
 
that’s right
i’m a bad girl
the baddest girl
in the west
& i swing my hips
when i walk down
the block if the neighbors
are playing some shit i like
& then if i
really feel
like being devilish
i might say “hey baby”
to somebody who still
looks young in the eyes
 
that’s right
i’m a bad girl
the baddest girl
in the west
i pop my pussy
on my lover’s knee
even if we ain’t at the club
but at the kickback
for the grown & sexys
& i wish
a person would
try & check me
 
that’s right
i’m a bad girl
the baddest girl
in the west
i done had two kids
& raised them right
like they got home training
& you best believe
i can produce receipts
from each roll of
my stretch marks
marking time
for the investments
i made (in them)
 
that’s right
i’m a bad girl
the baddest girl
in the west
clear my throat
& keep my head up high
even when this wack wind
of a world tries to blow
me the fuck down
like it’s a wolf
that don’t nobody
but me  (see)

Mars

if all the black women are going to mars

i want to sit with all the women i love

i want the black woman to call out on speaker

 

“hey babys welcome to your flight.

we got all the baddest bitches flying y’all to your destination today.”

 

& then someone other black woman jump in & say

“greetings my nubian sisters & welcome to your flight

because it’s your time. because you are worthy to fly

to the mother land of mars. ase.”

 

& then i want some

other black woman to jump on the mic & say

“buckle up. safety first. we’ve got peach cobbler &

mac & cheese on this flight & we all say please & thank

you. as you know the elders are sitting in first class

& you all can take turns washing their feet or getting

them any damn thing they want. amen? amen.”

 

i want the soul train line to begin & end the flight.

______ ______ West

if you do not
know your own name
call out to the wilderness
call out to the dirt
put your hands inside a rock
& tell your back it is a fossil
 
pray
pray to the winds
with your whole tongue
& swallow every miscarried dream
wipe the blood off of your mouth
with the courage of a headwrap
bow down to your tiny remorse
fleck your sadness off with a new day
 
if you still do not
know your own name
call yourself unforgettable
pick yourself out of your own teeth
smile away the pain

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Anastacia-Reneé is a queer writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, playwright, former radio host, TEDX speaker, and podcaster. She is the author of Here In The (Middle) Of Nowhere, Side Notes From The Archivist, (v.) and Forget It. Sidenotes from the Archivist was selected as one of “NYPL Best Books of 2023,” and The American Library Associations (RUSA) “Notable Books of 2024.” She is a recipient of the James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award (Literary) and she was selected by NBC News as part of the list of “Queer Artists of Color Dominate 2021’s Must See LGBTQ Art Shows,” for “(Don’t Be Absurd) Alice in Parts,” an installation at Frye Art Museum. Renee served as Seattle Civic Poet (2017-1019) during Seattle’s inaugural year of UNESCO status. Renee has been Hugo House Poet-in-Residence, and Jack Straw Curator. She was the 2021 Distinguished Visiting Writer in Residence at Seattle University. Their work has been published widely.

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