Can I Get More Time? No, Okay Then.
A smile still touches the brim of my lips
I travel to my favorite places
Legs carry me to the fields
Fingers kissing the tall grass
Inhaling the crisp clean air
Bare feet sinking in the churned dirt
Finding the gravel
The south, how it hugs me
Walking to the underbelly
Where graffiti splatters cement
The abandoned buildings whisper
Telling stories of the people that lived there
Brick and green peeking through cracks
The city, how it toughens me
Through the cemetery and the church
To all of my favorite restaurants
Pressing cheek to stages
Running palm against mic
London, how it tested me
Climbing the hills
Lungs breathing in faith
At the peak hands extend to touch the clouds
It is then that tears cascade to the trembling smile
The beauty and pain potent
Sharp, like avoidance
Tennessee, Baltimore, St. Louis how they grew me
Places are easy
People,
Love swells in the heart
Dipping body one last time into the water
Caught in the current
Floating as the sky cracks open with trumpet
My taxi home is here
A smile still plays on still water
Purpose fulfilled, I love you
Sahara Sista S.O.L.S is a author, poet, actor, and teaching artist with a BFA in Communication: Theatre Studies and a specialization in Art Therapy. She was born in Knoxville, TN, raised there and in Baltimore, MD though she currently lives in St. Louis, MO. She was member of the nationally ranked St. Louis poetry slam team for three consecutive years and placed in the top 20 of Woman of the World Poetry Slam 2017. Currently she is a librarian at St. Louis Public Library.