A note from adrienne maree brown: Mwende Katwiwa, based in New Orleans and Kenya, makes clothing from gathered textiles, and poems that open the heart. Mwende works with young people to pull their poetry forward.

self-portrait as the ocean or Fofie’s wisdom

study the tides of
the ocean shored by your skin
each ripple each wave

know not all water
is meant to quench dry throats or
to be waded through

know not everything
that is left in the waters
is an offering

reminders for my (impatient) selves

don’t force what won’t come
what is for you is either
coming or waiting

closed mouths (and full ones) don’t get fed

ask for what you need
ready yourself to receive
as well as release

a lesson learned from June

i been wrong…and still
wrong ain’t never been my name
pronounce me correct

pronounce me (w)hol(l)y
won’t answer to all i’m called
act accordingly

train your timid tongues
sound out all my syllables
i been a mouthful

you are your own

because you were both
the cost and the one who paid
a terrible price

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