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Columnist:
Stacey Tolbert
Amanda
Johnston
Cave Canem Fellow and
Affrilachian Poet, Amanda Johnston
has performed across the country for various causes and events. Honors
include a 2003 and 2004 Artists Enrichment grant from the Kentucky
Foundation for Women and the 2005 Austin International Poetry Festival's
Christina Sergeyevna Award. Currently,
Johnston
serves on the board of directors for the National Women's
Alliance
, is an ensemble member of The Austin Project Performance Company (TAPPCo)
and is the founding editor of Torch: poetry, prose, and short stories by
African American Women.
PINKY WANTS TO LIVE
Oh! Now you’re gonna shoot me in my pinky toe. ~ Vera
Now wait one goddamn minute!
We was doing fine, singin’
dancin’, all high on wine. Then
Vera got to go and get mad.
Sensitive on account of she can’t
count and Quick got to call her on it.
Beans and Cornbread had a fight.
Beans knocked Cornbread outta sight.
See, Quick don’t have a mama. Vera,
all round and maternal lookin’, runs
a ho house. Sure she’ll love ya right,
got ‘bout six gals that’ll do the same,
but Quick got to learn the hard way
that all that suga and spice comes
at a price. That razor packed in her titties
almost taught him that.
Beans and Cornbread had a fight.
Beans knocked Cornbread outta sight.
Soon as the boys and me heard that
noise, we tried to shift Vera back
to a positive stance. But in the end
I am but one gnarled nub
she never listens to anyway, not even
when I bust and blister her raw.
Beans and Cornbread had a fight.
Beans knocked Cornbread outta sight.
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