Celebrating National Poetry Month

The Up Side of Down

For the fun of it

The sheer, delicious

Ridiculousness of it

I freed my head

To dangle off the side

Of my black leather bed

To feel the weight of it

The crazy, lightness of it

I let the blood come

To the edge of my

Imagination and drip

Down to every wiry hair

To evaporate into my

Smooth green walls

For the beauty of it

I let my eyes

Roll back to see

What was inside

My awakening spirit

And found it dancing

Across an afterthought

For the freedom of it

I gave an upside down wink

To the curious husband

Who backed away from

The crack in my bedroom door

Likely thinking my current

Illness was catching

And far to liberating for

One who needs sleep

For the necessity of it

I hung upside down

For the fun of it

And was surprised at

How right it was

 

My Girl/Spit It

Spit it, baby
Let the sistahs SWANG
Own up to our swag
B-boys and hard knock girls
Ain’t got nuttin
On our old heads

Old skool
New skool
Skool them on the real
Cause we got it like that

We got wisdom coming
Through our breasts
Got it dripping down
To thick thighs
Oiling the ground
So new seeds spring up
Strong and bendable
Unbreakable

Go ‘head girl
Dance that dance
Can’t nobody else do
Ain’t a Soul Train line
Alive can contain
Your moves
Your truth, girl

Spit it into stars
Make them burst
And blind the blind
Into seeing
What beauty really
Looks like

Black yella golden girl
Purple rims around your eyes
Shading time
Between you
And ordinary people

Your spit is
Divine, divinely
Bubbled up
Sweet and salty
Satisfying with newness

Do your thang, girl
Woman, goddess, spirit-sistah
You give birth
At a distance
And the world shutters
But don’t understand
All the shaking
Cause you the one
Got it going on

Look up into your
New day
Walk out onto concrete
Knowing your place
Making your space
From tiny bits
Of soil in the cracks
That’s all you need
To plant a field
Of moonbeams

Go ‘head, girl
Show us how
A woman’s hips
Dance on confidence
Toss your scarf
Across your shoulder
Soak up sun in winter
And give it your warmth
Just because you can

I got you from here
Holding out my arms
Til they quiver
Unbowed, bulging
Pushing you towards
The rickety L
And the whole
Damn alphabet
Cause you my girl
And your spit shines

Love and Light for your Tuesday! Fasten your seat belts ladies…upcoming next week, Atlanta’s finest poetic entertainer, the amazing Jarvis Talley!

A connoisseur of poetry and bona fide lover of the written word, Terry Spencer Edwards is a contemporary and invigorating voice of interest. Terry’s literary gift spans far and wide through her innate observations of people in everyday life and her openness for connecting with all things creative and divine. A native of Neptune, New Jersey, she was first published in a local newspaper at the early age of four. The story was about why she loved Dr. Seuss and was published in her own handwriting and with a sketch of her. Not ironically and through her present passion for writing children’s literature, she wrote her first mystery novel while in third grade and has been writing poetry since. During her young adult life, she was the winner and poetry champion in Original Oratory and Dramatic Interpretation for the New Jersey Intramural Poetry Competition.

Today, Terry Edwards is a 30-year training and development veteran, specializing in adult learning, organizational development, and volunteer resource management. She holds a BS in Journalism from the University of Maryland, a MS in Applied Behavioral Science/Organization Development from Johns Hopkins University, and studied Information Systems Management with the University of Southern California. Terry is the proud recipient of the 2011 AARP Maureen McKoy Award for Excellence in Service. She is a graduate of the American Society on Aging’s (ASA) New Ventures in Leadership Program and serves as Chair of the ASA NVL Advisory Council.

Her altruism, “Creativity is God’s gift to you; using your creativity is your gift back to God,” is a devoted methodology by which she lives. Terry is presently working on the development and launch of her literary blog which will feature, “all things Terry”.