first world problems & mother’s curbed anger

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Two poems written on Substack notes

AI Generated Image: The World

first world problems

I awoke to no hot water
again today. it went on strike
yesterday afternoon, and this
morning, I’d had it.

a work order was requested,
and within an hour, maintenance
rapped at my door.

ten minutes later, hot water
was roaring from the faucets.

how easy it was for me to
forget the luxuriousness of
something so simple that
took almost no time to
fix.

first world problems aren’t
as big as we make them
out to be, so why do
we spend time doing so?

AI Generated Image: An angry Black woman yelling at the TV screen.

mother’s curbed anger

my mom has denounced her
pugilistic ways,
choosing to engage
in reasonable debate
instead.

as a girlchild who
witnessed her
violent side more
than I can count,

I learned that her
anger lived in me,
too.

what I had to relearn
was: being provoked will always
spark in-depth angst,
but the decision to

breathe through it,
and “make good
choices” can
actually save my life.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

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