Go somewhere that has air as clean as fresh laundry.
Relax with that crisp air and find a comfortable seat.
The sun is out now and shall be your glowing guide.
Let the winds blow to give you more of that clean air.
Inhale that cleanliness and lay your body on the ground.
Don’t worry, the leaves are soft and welcoming.
You’ve been working a lot and your body needs recuperation.
Now, close your eyes.
All your rainy days are long gone.
Pick up your body slowly and let your feet adjust to your new walkway.
One step forward and you’re on the right path.
One step backward and you’ll be on the left.
Take one step back to cure your curiosity.  
It’s not exactly the wrong move to make, but you don’t want to get stuck.
So take two steps forward on the right path.
The sun’s shining brightly, but it’s blocking your view.
You only get to see the path, but the destination has to be walked towards.

What will you encounter on the path?

The beauty of life is that we know where we wanna be, but there’s always the unexpected that waits.
Keep walking, I say.
One droplet of rain won’t hurt.
Don’t be afraid if it gets heavier.
Your rainy days are long gone, but the rainiest ones are brewing.
Notice that the sun continues to shine as bright as a full moon.
The clouds aren’t big enough to block it and neither is the rain gonna block you.
The rain isn’t gonna stop you.

Keep up the fast pace, I say.
Don’t you see that gorgeous rainbow in the sky?
Don’t you notice the chirping of the birds?
Walk to the beat of their music because the rain is stopping.
The rays of the sun pushed away from the clouds as did your determination.
If the tears of the sky can’t stop you, nothing can.

You’re almost there.

Don’t you see the butterflies at the end?
Don’t you smell the clean air once again?
You made it to the end of the rainbow with a glowing smile and a strong head.
Aren’t you proud of yourself?
Now, open your eyes and look around at the trees and the beaming sun.
Your rainbow is still there, don’t you see it?
Take a break if you must, but never stop moving.

-Mia J
12-12-2020

© 2020 Mia J

Being “grown-up” looked cool from a young mind’s eye.

No bedtimes.
Choosing when to eat veggies.
Driving behind the wheel.
Going wherever you please.
Earning lots of money.
Buying whatever you want.
Watching scenes not meant for kids.
Having freedom most importantly.

Then those young mind’s grew
and witnessed their personal pictures.

Setting an early alarm is
more important than
no bedtime.
Eating veggies becomes a necessity
rather than a choice.
Hard-earned money is spent on responsibilities
no one was informed about.
Friends grow apart and change like the weather.
Some boys become men.
Some boys stay boys.
Adults also have childish ways.
Family can have the mindset of a faux amie.
Some days, you may feel sunny.
Certain days, it will rain all over.
Being strong surpasses not crying over dropped ice cream.

Adulting is nice,
Adulting can be dun,
But don’t rush it, sweet little one!


-Mia J
7-17-2021

© 2021 Mia J

Any other page I’ve written was easily marked by blue or black ink.
Those pages contain thoughts that I wasn’t able to vocalize.
My mouth wouldn’t do justice so my right hand made sense of them.
As if my words were a deer, they leaped from my thought-filled mind and
onto a page where they adjusted to a new environment.

But now, my mind is just as blank as printer paper.
Perhaps I’ve written so many of my most concealed thoughts that I can’t write anymore.
Writer’s block?
Or maybe my thoughts are scattered to the east and west to gather themselves to make sense.
Somehow.

When they make sense, perhaps I could write about love.
I haven’t had it in what feels like forever.
I miss weekend dates, I miss midnight conversations, I miss cuddles, I miss learning his likes and dislikes, I miss exploring something fresh and new.
Do I even deserve love?
I can’t remember what it feels like to meet someone new.
Is it butterflies? Sparks?
I’ve made many mistakes in choices surrounding love.
How will I know I won’t make a mistake when the right one finally arrives?
Perhaps my love is lost or he also stopped to take an unintentional indefinite break.

Will my thoughts be about pain?
Or confusion?
Seems like I’ve been stagnant for too long,
but I don’t know how to move.
I want my day to be new for once.
I need constant motivation to start a career
that I don’t know what that will be.
My desires and the Plan could be two totally different things.
I just wanna be successful, but what
could that look like for me?  
Is the sky the limit?
My ambition will never die, but I hope the same for my drive to succeed.

Oh, right hand don’t fail me now!

So where will my thoughts go?
What will become of this page and
others just like it?
The possibilities are endless,
supposedly.
Where can I begin?
Where will I end?
Perhaps my hand with a blue and black pen will make sense of the Blank Pages.

-Mia J
4/2/2021

© 2021 Mia J

Yet another belabored black corpse swinging from a tree
like a camouflaged pendulum

That corpse had a name
a decent job and a sincere life
a soft voice and a loving heart

Ignorant hecklers only saw black skin
and acted accordingly

The body was drug back and forth
through mud and
Beaten on all parts until no more
blood was
left to pour out
Its hands were bound together tighter
than the rope
wrapped about its neck

The body hung from a tree-like
a star on a Christmas tree
Hecklers and onlookers smiled like
the dead black corpse
was a badge of honor

Each breath of the wind moved the body to and fro
The strongest breath didn’t make the
body fall
Children played near the dangling body
The stench of the black death won’t affect
their five senses ever

The body had a life before becoming
a sideshow attraction
The body had a life before becoming a
warning for others just like it

Such displays of blatant violence would always be an act of suicide
But society will always know the brutal and ugly
truth

-Mia J
9/26/2021

© 2021 Mia J

Once I had a conversation with a man,
who was supposed to be my man
but he was my brotha.
He fixed his lips to say,

“I dislike black girls… well not black girls, just girls as dark as you.”

My ears weren’t foreign to such ignorance,
but why is darker skin so shamed?
I thought I was ugly with black circles around my eyes and dark brown cheeks.

Skin-lightening products were too strong
for my sensitive, dark skin.

The bright sun was my biggest enemy because it baked me into something my brotha’s didn’t prefer.

Why can’t I have the same preference?

Why can’t the other dark-hued sista’s have that same preference?

Can a brotha handle being turned down because he’s a ******?

Would he too attempt to lighten his God-given skin?

Would he feel ugly?

If the dark-hued sista’s had the luxury...

Oh, if only!

Why must our brotha’s make us feel so down about dark hues?

We are all black and face enough over what we didn’t ask for.

All black women are beautiful,
but the milk chocolate and dark chocolate
ain't appetizing enough to be on your arms.

Is it self-hatred?

Our brotha’s came from black women.

As a matter of fact, we all did.

How dare one of us be disrespected in such poor taste?

A preference is fine, but disrespect because of hues is idiocy.

Like what you like, prefer what you prefer.
Don’t like my darker hues?
Fine.
But don’t attempt to put me or us down to lift up yourself.
Us dark-hued sista’s are as gorgeous as the morning sun.
No matter how dark we are,
we were baked under the perfect and strongest lights!


5-13-2021
Mia J

© 2021 Mia J

What was it about you that caught my eye?
Maybe it was your gentle smile.
It reminds me of my favorite music video and makes me
perk up each time I see it.
Maybe it was those eyes that looked like the most beautiful blue waterfalls that were created.
I get lost like a stranger in the woods every time I look at them and you.
This isn’t just a physical attraction,
but maybe it should just stay that.
I heard that opposites attract, but I must repel.
It ain’t fair.
No, it ain’t fair at all.
My heart aches when I think about how much my feelings for you hurt.
You’re like my brightest dreams I see at night.
I badly want to become one with the unconscious visions,
but I simply can’t.
I have many years of love stored up in my heart, and if you could be mine,
I’d make you my cynosure.
I’m confident that you would do the same.
Sadly, we’ll only ever do this in my dreams.
2-15-2021
-Mia J

© 2021 Mia J

I didn’t know how beautiful I was until my face was in my face.
I said goodbye to pricey hairstyles that went down to my ****
and only lasted a little over two months.
Such long hair framing my face made me overlook it.
The weave only ever added to my internal beauty.

My starter locs were an adjustment after minute one.
They framed my face as if I were a sunflower.
The ends of my locs were curlier than Shirly Temple’s.
So full of life and unique in their own way.
But I felt they didn’t match how long my natural hair was.
Those around me loved my hair, but I covered it up with wigs.
They were nice, but my locs needed breathing too.

Snapping pictures of my progress became my new hobby.
My frizz came in within a matter of weeks.
My budding started in the back and then spread out
like a wild forest fire.
I stopped wearing wigs after month 2.
I embraced my new look like they were firmly planted roses.
I watered them and gave them direct photosynthesis each day.

I kept my scalp oiled every 3 days to continue their cycle of life.
The growth spread like a wild forest fire.
It torched each of my locs until they all tangled up and looked alike.
I became my own photographer, snapping more pictures than ever before.
I became obsessed once I saw all of my progress.
How could I go back to weave now?
My locs are just gorgeous!

My hair changed before my eyes
and I can’t get enough.
My locs showed me a face that I thought needed
to be complimented by hair I had to pay for.
There’s nothing better than just fluffing out my hair in the
morning and going about my business.
Embracing my locs proved to me that
I was always beautiful just the way I was.

This hair journey is the best road I ever walked.
I won’t regret it ever!
Inner beauty is beautiful, but outer beauty is eye-catching.
I love my babies like I birthed them out of my scalp
And I can’t ever let them go!
Ever!!!


Mia J
11/2/2023

© 2023 Mia J



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