By: Kristin Hunt
Will you accept this blood sacrifice?
no white terrorists in America
we are so blessed
they are ghosts plain citizens living among us
so just like their bodies
and actions
the sound of their voices of hate
along with their wrongdoings
disappear
how bad I want to disappear some days
and to not have my mother called for did she stage it what else did she do
was she a member of a gang who did she hang around and send her nicest portrait
please oh no thanks we will use the nude of her we found or the one of her smoking the
weed or holding a gun the blacks like guns maybe one of her disturbing the
peace you know she a provoker all of them are never in my life have i seen an innocent black
and the other browns are
who you stole the land from, beaten and forced from this land with a vengeance but you love their headdress
labeled a radical, crazy, hijab wearing government enemy but you love their dedication to religion
seen as a leeching illegal immigrant, capable yet disposable in manual labor, but you love their food and pull up a seat every May 5 without fail
the smartest, all hopes are on you for medicine, science, and technology they are all Chinese right, but you love their desire to excel
We are people at the root of it all and
we pay with our lives.
That escalated quickly
my dentist told me I should travel more
because money follows passion most definitely I suppose
I grew up with clothes and food sufficiently yes
but no silver spoon or Daddy Trump handouts to match
let you tell it we grew up the same
but different colors
black people complain too much
they are lazy
and do nothing but kill amongst themselves and others
what is it called
when it’s France vs. England
or Ireland vs. England
or Germany vs. everyone else in the world
white on white violence receives silence
If I kill a black brother it’s damn, why are black women so angry and violent?
yet all men still leave their women out to die
set up to be saviors and you accomplish this for yourself
But again a black woman is saying this she must have come from an unspeakable hell
let us send her back
the truth of her words will not expose us
lock her away
don’t even make a key
Get out of my ovaries bro
when you get to be of a certain age people start to drop the baby jokes
be more like them pop one or two babies out
struggle to pay bills
to live for yourself
to have a relationship with the father
its acceptable that is just how life goes
never mind
your career is nonexistent
babies grow at an alarming rate
you haven’t had time to figure out yourself
let alone someone else
just have a baby it’s so cute
who are you dating it’s always just you
Barren? No?
there has to be some reason why you do not choose
boys and babies at my time for you
maybe I just have a bad case of Love in Excess,
a mockingly selfish bachelorette not willing to have my wants suppressed
So if I never had a child would that render my life meaningless?
Kristin Hunt is a writer and director from Atlanta, GA.She self-published her first chapbook, I’m Much Better on Paper, in 2017, and her poems have been featured in The Write Launch, Reclamation Magazine, and Clover and White literary journal.Hunt graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Throughout college she worked as a Library Assistant and Production Assistant. These days she works as a video producer/creator. In 2018 she released a short film titled, Don't Let it Smoke You: The Documentary. Hunt aims to combine her love for poetry and film to inspire others.
Interview with the Poet:
Cathexis Northwest Press:
How long have you been writing poetry?
Kristin Hunt:
since 2011
CNP:
Can you remember the first poem you read that made you fall in love with poetry?
KH:
Phyllis Wheatley- poems on various subjects
CNP:
Who are your favorite poets? Any specific poems?
KH:
Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Nayyirah Waheed, Jericho Brown, and Anastacia- Renee. Ebo Barton
CNP:
Can you share for us a little bit about your writing process? Any specific rituals that get you in
the zone?
KH:
Music sometimes, I have some really good playlists. But I mostly write to stay sane. Ha.
CNP:
How do you decide the form for your poems? Do you start writing with a form in mind, or do you let the poem tell you what it will look like as you go?
KH:
Sometimes I have a form in mind, but I mostly let it tell me. Poems are from wondering not knowing/projection.
CNP:
Any advice for poets who have yet to find their voice?
KH:
Do not retract your feelings and write what you know.
CNP:
What is your editing process like?
KH:
My editing process cutting words/phrases that I feel won't improve my true feelings. For a full collection I get feedback from other writers. Also reading other's work is perhaps the best editing process. I try to rationalize how they got to this thought, and how it is conveyed.
CNP:
When do you know that a poem is finished?
KH:
When i'm not over explaining, and i feel i don't have to censor. It has all been said.