POETRY
A collection of my original works of poetry. Check in for updates and new pieces.
What are the Black boys doing on the Mountain?
A poem for Oregon in honor of Black History Month inspired by lived experience
Lakayana Yotoma Drury
A tribe of Black boys shreds down the belly of Mt. Hood
Defiant specs of mighty melanin juxtaposed against the steep sloping white sheet of snow & ice
The inner-city-forgotten-community Black boys are a magnificent sight to behold
Infinite untapped potential cutting unapologetic gashes across the side of the white mountain
Thrusting their entire trauma-drenched bodies into their motions
Crashing and lurching head over feet into frozen earth
Streaks of brilliance punctuated by violent tumbles
Practicing newly learned movements in an alien ecosystem of timber, cold, and whiteness
Shackless Black ankles strapped into boards
They take to the slopes, gushing with promise
Little Black girl stares with wonder
She is in awe of the sight to which she bares witness
She asks her mama; what are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
To be Black in Oregon, what a paradox
Exclusion, execution, equity; stages of white guilt
Perhaps the Black boy tumbling down the side of the active volcano have found the path forward
Mt. Hood rises from the concrete as you ride down the spine of N. Columbia Boulevard
The sewage plant and railroad tracks that drain into the slough are as close as most
Black kids are going to get to Mt. Hood.
Black youth meander through Portland streets like urban tumbleweed
Through brick buildings named after slave masters and gentrified streets built over the
Raised homes, barbershops, and jazz clubs of yesteryear.
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
Snowboard lessons are evidence that some falls are actually leaps toward liberation
On that day Rose City will be a city where all souls can smell the flowers
Black will be a sanctuary rather than a spectacle
And little Black girls won’t have to ask;
What are the Black boys doing on the mountain?
Performed live at the State Library of Oregon at the annual Black History Month Proclamation signing with Oregon Govenor Tina Kotek.
RAIN DANCE - Dedicated to Demeteria Hester (Sanga)
Lakayana Yotoma Drury
Black sky pulled over the city
September rain serenades the concrete
Bodies spill into the street
hoodies rain jackets bandanas umbrellas
faceless souls
A circle forms for the rain dance
Black woman who survived white supremacy chants
for Black woman who died by white supremacy
Dead or alive you never get justice
Megaphone slung across her chest like a rifle
hand clutched on the trigger
She is possessed
she stalks the crowd
stops in front of each white person
Whose
Eyes pierce
life
heart fire
mmmaaatttttteeerrrsss
Demanding allegiance from each pair of white lips
Drummers weave into the circle
bodies heave and haw
Black girls on the far side
Dancing
fuming
ready to speak molotovs
Angry Black women lead the rain dance
the rain dance is matriarchal
Rain falls on clenched fists raised towards the sky
rain falls on the heads of Black women who have never known freedom
Rain dance for Kendra
Rain dance for Sandra
Rain dance for Breonna
Rain dance for justice
Rain dance for liberation
Eulogy in the front
riot in the back
Bodies in the darkness dancing in the rain
to the sound of Black women painting their stories
Raw pain pours from the sky
Say her name—
Say her name—
Say her name—