Kinky
(a poem inspired by Uva Coles)
There’s something real
kinky about her
I mean real kinky
about the way she holds
her head to the sky
smiling from ear to ear
walking down the street
marching to the rhythm
of her own unique beat
sunlight augmenting the curls
in her teeny weeny afro
embracing her newfound freedom
from relaxed ends that once told lyes
that met their demise during her big chop
heads are turning,
eyes are staring,
mouths are gawking
wherever she goes
but she doesn’t care
or give a damn what anybody thinks
because she knows
who she is
and she’s so
amazing / confident / fierce /
gorgeous / real / sexy / unapologetic
because there’s something real
kinky about her
I mean real kinky
that turns a brotha on
and makes him want to
comb his fingers through
a sista’s natural roots
so he can find out what
heaven on earth feels like
but he knows better than
to disrespect her crowning glory
expressing its African hairstory
locked away inside her soul
that nobody can understand
who she is
because that’s the way
her mama taught her
from the resilient way
she rocks her braids,
cornrows, plaits, and twists
like changing seasons
because versatility
is hers to command
and there’s something real
kinky about her
real kinky about her
I mean damn right kinky
funky / jazzy / nasty
like a summertime
slick bass groove
it’s in the way she
bops her head
bounces her shoulders
and sways her hips
she’s putting the world on notice
a sista don’t play
and she’s a force
a force to be
reckoned with…
Mmm-hmmm…
by Bill Holmes
Bill Holmes is the author of the full-length poetry book Straight From My Heart, the spoken word CD The Air I Breathe, and the ESSENCE bestselling fiction novel One Love. As a poet, Bill has opened for artists such as The Last Poets and award-winning jazz musician Roy Ayers. Bill’s work has been published and featured in 50BOLD, African Voices, ESSENCE and the anthologies Journey Into My Brother’s Soul, Erogenous Zone: A Sexual Voyage and Step Up To The Mic: A Poetic Explosion. Bill is the founder of the creative-writing course Write Here! Write Now! which he taught for five years at Temple University in Philadelphia through the grassroots, non-profit organization PASCEP. He is currently working on his memoir In the End and the independent, short-film The Program.