Filed under: DC life
the DC i be
© 2012 by margaux delotte-bennett
now here is bold and bright
fighting for light to shine under
and through
sometimes blue
seldom green
yellow, brown and red broken into opposing teams
seems white can be right because it reflects so well
with black the belly swells
so full
absorbed
consumed
all now here
enduring
we have purple too
in hues from regal to faint
gaudy at times as it paints across
the space where we are joined as rainbows
fused in color wheels
bleeding into light and back out again
drops drip
drops clot
becoming one with prisms held aloft
in hands joined
and made mine
we are minds
held open by hands aloft
held aloft by hands open
held hands that hold
shades that shift and shimmy as they
weave into patterns
bright
symbols
bold
with stories told
of passages gained
paths crossed
journeys had and journeys sought
that brought us all to
here
and now that we are here
now here we are
hands poised to join
but we have to decide
to hold on.
the poem of the week is going to be presented as a part of this event:
so you will have to come and see it performed at 3333 14th Street, NW! My new poem entitled “preoccupied” will be posted up on the site once it has debuted live. an image of my co-conspirator for the performance can be found below. i just love this picture of us!
i hope you can join us on Friday or Saturday evening…
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or if Sunday afternoon is more your speed, i am hosting a yummy event to awaken the senses…
all this goodness in one weekend.
are you ready?
did you know that March18th-March 24th is International Anti-Street Harassment Week? well it IS and my creative tribe, The Saartjie Project, will be participating by doing some street theater this Saturday 3/24/12 at 1:30pm near the corner of 7th and G Streets, NW. that is right in the HEART of Gallery Place. the piece i am posting today will be one of the pieces that i will be sharing on Saturday. If you are able to join us, we would love to see your smiling faces! 
words
© 2001 by margaux delotte-bennett
if you don’t have a vagina
it might be hard to understand
how the words, “you’re a fine looking woman!”
can instantly turn from a phrase to seduce
into a noose
snaking its way around my oh so long and pretty
breakable neck
these words aren’t used to lift me up
but to hold me up
face to the wall
legs spread
juices hopefully flowing
who gave them the power?
who gave you the power?
it certainly wasn’t me that taught Zeus
that rape and seduce are synonymous
or teaches soldiers that if you can’t take it by air
take it by sea
or teaches some that ‘no means no’ is registered on a plane that only dogs
seems to unconditionally understand
and who am I to knock flattery?
because apparently someone staring at me
can’t help but see a queen
and when I serenely avoid the advances
I have to take my chances with being called a
stuck up bitch.
I wish I could shake you and make you overstand
the power you wield as a man.
use your words wisely
not on some corner to size up women the likes of me
who can plainly see
this really ain’t where you need to be.
I had a few rough drafts that i started this week, but this piece is the closest i have to a finished poem worthy enough to be shared.
sometimes when a relationship/ connection ends, all that one is left with is a poem. while this poem was being written, i was unclear if it had a particular muse/ catalyst/ proper subject because who it was about kept shifting, though the feelings remained…
I want to love you in French
© 2011 by margaux delotte-bennett
I want to love you in French
tongues tickled and tied
as we try to plant language
into the back of each others’ throats
seeds of love housed in
sacre coeurs, hearts made holy
by love in a tongue
not native to either of us
nor claimed by our mothers
this romantic language working as a bridge
over which we both tip and toe
towards the center
where we meet
in the 6th grade I began French lessons
I started to revel in the sounds of this tongue
the source of my name
the inspiration for the sultry and amorous conquests of
Pepe Le Pew
and the misnomer for the fried potatoes I have always loved
a cultural appropriation that was not quite accurate
but pervasive all the same
French came to you also by Pepe’s conquests
but on the tip of a bayonet
soon fashioned into a
baguette avec fromage or boeuf au jus
colonization led to
an official language
an African education system infiltrated by European standards
architectural motifs guiding the design of wooden balconies and verandas
I want to love you in French
with a nouveau vocabulaire, new words to describe
the feelings I am allowing myself to explore
you seem willing to teach
and I am willing to learn
Prêts à aimer
ready to love
aujourd’hui
today
Filed under: DC life
we just started a new cycle of the teen parenting class we teach at work. i wrote this poem on saturday… it is a bit bitter sweet that we had such a great turnout. there are a lot of young parents out there that need our support.
3 in 10
© 2012 by margaux delotte-bennett
I have not been a Christian for quite some time
but I do worship the divine
in the wombs of the teen mothers I meet
not virgin births
but equally confounding
overwhelming
a conception that leads to questions
outside and inside
of this young shell
well? how?
why?
who? why?
when?
let’s not pretend you can’t see them
huddled at the bus stop
late night pick ups from daycare
you also watch
you also stare
you also wonder what ball was dropped
and landed in the midsection of a child
was she wild?
was he old?
were they told the steps to keep themselves safe or safer?
did they care?
do you dare to ask for her blessings on Sunday
and cut her with your eyes,
spit on her in the flesh on Monday
so that someday
she won’t be your child?
3 in 10
3 in 10 will go to bed as parents after waking up as friends
3 in 10 can’t believe how quickly a childhood can end
3 in 10 is the stark message that the statistics send
to each of us working towards parenthoods that are
planned
postponed
prepared to care for the next generation
so in need
of our guidance
today
*The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that 3 in 10 girls in the US get pregnant at least once by age 20.*
Filed under: DC life
I failed to realize that I had not written a poem this week until late last night/ early this morning. As the year comes to a close, I don’t want to abandon my practice…
In December
(c) 2011 by margaux delotte-bennett
wind kissed days abound
as naked trees shiver through
heaven’s winter song
i started writing a poem today about the color pink (not my favorite color), but i didn’t get very far. i was walking at the time and the lines were still forming in my mind… i’m very excited for a day off tomorrow because it may allow me some time to write and regroup.
the piece i am sharing today is also a work in progress. it is funny how my understanding of a ‘finished’ piece has shifted throughout this year…
the test
(c) 2011 by margaux delotte-bennett
color lines
drawn in the sand, but still drawn
delineating
separating
starkly marking where
one begins and one ends
outlined by fear
reinforced by ignorance
held onto because of the false security they exude
invariably (but only for a moment)
i often tense up when i see a group of
young (i can no longer claim it)
black (just like me)
males (what i am not and never shall be)
they are always up ahead
standing
lounging
styling and profiling
one, two, three more
than me
my good-
-morning
-day
-evening
-night is often met with a head nod
a hey
a parting of taut bodies to give me way
i speak to dispel my tension (though fleeting)
and my greeting is always responded to
i often feel like i have passed some sort of test
as i walk through
have you?
Filed under: DC life
i wrote this the other morning and i think it’s a good start, but it needs some help. it may have ended too quickly or it may need something to drive it forward. thoughts?
gulls
(c) 2011 by margaux delotte-bennett
is there anything sadder
than seagulls without the sea?
namesake forsaken
landscape all wrong
circling vast parking lots
without a crest in sight
birdsong displaced
as it bounces against the walls and windows
of chain stores filled
with things that will end up at
the bottom of the sea
eventually
smooth landings made for
ship masts
docks
buoys and barges
now wasted on
light posts
abandoned cars
garbage cans
a fresh fish diet
degenerated to
hardened cheese on paper wrappers
discarded chicken bones
perversely circled and
fought over
our consumption
has not only
made a mockery of what we call life
sadly, it has done
the same
for you.
Filed under: DC life
as can be seen in posts from the month of April 2011, i participated in the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) challenge of producing 30 poems in 30 days. I attended a local workshops hosted by Jon Barrows as well as the retrospective reading at Bloombars. A wonderful little anthology was created to celebrate the new poetry born in Washington, DC. I just ordered a few copies of the anthology and there is a lot of beautiful poetry included. Two of my pieces have been published in the book. Visit this site to order your copy today!
if you have not heard about the case of Troy Davis yet, here is a video that i found to be informative and creative.
the poem that i am posting is not specifically about troy davis or about the case, but it is about the work that activists need to do. i believe that use of the death penalty is always a human rights violation. Some great fact sheets explaining why can be found here. as a country we are far away from abolishing it. thus, step by step we can and will change the system that fails to promote justice and peace…
one step
© 2002 by margaux delotte-bennett
stepping
stepping out into the possibilities
leaping on top of the dream that says
my pockets don’t need to be empty
stomach full of growls
eyes hiding my silent prayer
“maybe this empty boiling pot will lull them to sleep?”
“maybe they won’t notice that I only eat what they leave behind?”
“maybe this can plus those won’t leave them feeling empty today?”
stomach full of growls…
stepping
marching
demanding to be seen and understood
one step for each child without lunch in school
(the programs are supposed to leave no child behind)
one step for each unpaid doctor’s bill
home remedies that we can still afford
one step for each inaccessible job readiness program
in a language or location that leaves hands ties
stepping
marching for justice with peace
a peace that can be translated into any language, gender,
socio-economic ladder without the missing rungs
stepping
marching
one step for the churches picking up where the government has failed
one step for the communities loving, living, working together
one step for the Kensington Welfare Rights Union
one step for the Friends and Residents of Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg
one step for Amnesty International
one step for the organizations in our hearts
just waiting to be born out of this move
meant to connect us socially, politically, economically, civically,
culturally defined as
eyes open
hearts wide
hands raised in prayer
for the ones who didn’t make it to today
we are walking
we are marching
we are stepping
for our lives.
