Womanist Affairs

She Sees with Her Heart by Kendra M. Harris
Looking through each beat of that muscle

As she scrambles along in the city

Snapping her fingers to a sultry blues tune in her head

She sees with her heart

Dead are the nerves that runs from her mind that would, otherwise,

signal her heart to listen¦

to reason

Hear the rhythm of time bursting out jazz rifts,

Swing, bee bop, to remind her of the life experience

Under her feet

But she steps to each beat blindly

Led by her heart,

Purposely,

Refusing to see the weeds sprouting from the garden inside of her heart, where she lives

She just wants to tip, tap, tip, tap to the music playing in her head

And beat, beat, beat the muddy pottage under her feet

And step-go, step “ go, run from reality

Wanting to barter with her life time

Weary of living blind

But her heart sees more

Her heart sees more than canivers, jivers, fast talking liars

The ones who forget their own lies and think theyre true

Oh, the ones who smile at you, and with a slow pivot, mental bullets they shoot

Yeah! They kill

They the ones that kill the spirit,

Boxing up that which is free

But her heart sees more

Her heart sees more than well rehearsed, conscious alike people

Lying through their teeth

She sees more than goblins dressed in religious garb executing folk

in the name of the Lord

So she stays in the garden, ya know, in her heart

Humming to the tunes in her head

Making strange rhythms with her feet

Trying to numb the feelings from her flesh

Living in the city

Only existing, to outsiders, crazily

Blindly and brokenheartedly

But watching

Time

.