i decide to get out of bed in the morning after snoozing my alarm 13 times / even though i question the point of going / to work anymore / when everyone is going to complain anyway / because it’s too cloudy / out and summer is supposed to be / sunny and / no one cares that clouds are trying to help me maintain polish / wipe my eyes / and / no one cares that i even got out of bed at all / to signal day / for an audience / ungrateful / i want to lay in bed all day and change my name to Glitter or Gay or both / paint my nails / and / maybe watch Black Mirror / and eat / all damn day / because my mother thinks i look especially thin these days / but she don’t know / and i can’t / watch Black Mirror alone / and my bed gets too hot for company / and i don’t know what to eat / neighbors are knocking on my door asking where / i be / throwing rocks at my window / my voicemail is full / storage space too / every selfie is either a white or black screen / every bit of bad news is either a white or black screen / fuzzy / people say i am obsessed with myself / well / no one else is / i feel responsible / for everything / no one taught me to be healthy / i am not healthy / my daddy cries / momma too / i work too much / don’t get paid enough / my lover don’t say i love you enough but he wants to / i think / no one prays to me anymore / my hair keeps growing / into knots / my hair is a mess / solitude don’t be an option / saffron be the only option even when i feel blue / night time be a stranger / i don’t know her / my body eats itself when it hungers / life is one long ass hot day and the a.c. is too expensive / my feet hurt and my pedicure got ruined on the way to work / people think i sit in the sky on purpose / a daily leap from the roof looks like a blessing to some but it is a curse / sometimes i hate the sky and looking at the ground / and some people / but / i still / have to get out of bed / fake a smile / and / shine on these hoes

December 13, 2017

In Conversation: Sabrina Cates on Thrifting, Social Media, and Freedom

Sabrina Cates,

born and raised in New Orleans, is fly as hell and giving me a read on purpose and freedom. We heard of one another through word of mouth and met via Instagram. What started as polite exchange of compliments turned into a discussion about leaving corporate America to build on our dreams, brands and our own businesses. That, is why I chose to sit down with this wonderful woman. Sabrina is a gorgeous, compassionate, light of a human being who finds value in doing what she wants to do, be that blowing bubbles, case managing or channeling her mother at the thrift store.

My conversation with Sabrina will be the first in a series of conversations and interviews with creative, inspiring folks around New York and beyond. In wanting to learn more about relationships, imagination and the world, I also want to give these people a chance to tell their stories in hopes that they’ll reach and touch some of you. I want to expose us all to the way some of us are living out their imaginations and the ways they are trying to love, move, work and what they really think about the world.

December 8, 2017

26: i hate getting my picture taken or why won't you take my picture

black boy takes pictures
of himself to feel
pretty hard out here for a nigga
when he wants to be
the one you all come home to
but the house empty floors dusty
used rent money to get my hair braided
just tryna feel different
and it's a look but it's not
not really it’s hard tryna be
in front and behind a camera
and not feel seen in either
position

December 6, 2017

25: on the sun's day off

"....every selfie is either a white or black screen / every bit of bad news is either a white or black screen / fuzzy / people say i am obsessed with myself / well / no one else is / i feel responsible / for everything / no one taught me to be healthy / i am not healthy..."