Last Last by Burna Boy

Hi Everyone,

i hope y’all are staying cool, inspired, and calm these days. I have my days but the first part of this summer I had the worst job I’ve ever had in my life. I had to leave, they were on some other stuff forreal. Almost messed around n- ya know what? Nevermind. I’m on to better and benefits baby💅🏾 So it is what it is. But I say that to say, I feel like in a weird way as the summer is coming to a close, my summer is beginning. I’m able to finally shed that negative energy I’ve been feeling and living with as a result of that terrible job. I’m starting to go to a lot more concerts this year as everyone tries to get their money back from covid lockdown. It seems like everybody short of a Michael Jackson hologram is touring, which is great because I get to see a lot of people I’ve been waiting forever to see. So far this year I’ve seen Jazmine Sullivan, Koffee, The Script, Burna Boy, and a bunch of people at AfroNation in Puerto Rico back in March 😊 And as I live and write this, THIS WEEK I’M GOING TO SEE KENDRICK LAMAR IN CONCERT. I don’t know what to wear, I don’t know what to prepare for. Imma be just like that TikTok of that dude crying to him performing LOVE. Because like no- Kendrick is one of the reasons I write. So I’ll end my fan moment to say -I’m so friggin excited to see these musicians it’s crazy. I have some more concerts coming up and I’m excited for those as well.

I’ve still been writing here and there especially as I continue to hear amazing poetry all around the Boston area. It’s a great time to hear poetry and be on the scene. It’s full of new voices and experiences. I wanna hear what’s been on peoples hearts and minds all this time. It’s helped me to go back and read poetry I acquired over the years. I’m grateful to take up space where art resides. Here is a free write from last month. Remember to check on the events page to see where I’ll be performing next. Of course this piece has no title.

Be blessed y’all 💕

I’ve been meaning to tell the truth.

But that means letting my fears and typos in my prayers consume me

(That means I’m trying not to edit)

And that means I code switch naturally

And that means a laugh shakes my chest when I realize which one I’ve settled on

Each a part of me, actively fighting like children over my tongue

All wanting attention of mother

All wanting a face in the family picture of my dialect

That was once critiqued in a college classroom

(To which I replied, get out my mouth that’s just how I speak)

My mind speaking faster in that patchwork quilted English

That one Zora wrote in, that my classmates all complained about

I read sacred script that sounded like when I stay too long in the south

When the Dixie line plants itself past my mommas generation in my mouth

I wasn’t born there but I groaned there

Shed blood and came back to the church singing with the windows open

I’m a legacy my dear . Haven’t pledged yet but I carry my past sisters

Gon take it way back to da shak ova deer, past the woods in the clear you’ll come to a stretch of green where the field spread like two times the Johnson’s yard

You remember that right? The one your grandma ran through with your aunt on her hip

The one they can’t come back to cause the white people there will shoot you quick

Because over time the wood grew damp, split and splintered

The spot on the floor where she watched her momma die

The Alabama dirt was extra red that day

Red dirt stirs memory whirlwinds within me

Of lives I may have lived

And the ones only my DNA strands can code

Pass them down bold

Pass them down bold

Looking at myself like them genes strong you know?