i need to get a bikini. i need to feel my tits tense against the fabric. i need to get into the ocean and scream and cry and beg and give thanks. i need to be birthed back onto the shore with wobbly legs and wrinkled skin. i need to lose my bikini in the waves.

i need to quit my job. i need to break a mirror and eat with my left hand. i need to run laps under ladders and foster black cats. i need to play in pleasure and let love live with open arms. 

i needa say aint n finna n fuck you to my old teachers. i needa rip dis language out my mouth until a new one grows back, black n full bodied n fulla bite. i needa carry red clay in my pocket. let da South seep into my clothes n bleed onto da concrete.

i needa show my ancestors we are stronger than da curses we’ve put on ourselves.