Chocolate Waters
why do you read my poems
sister tena?
i'm not saying anything you want tol hear
i'm betrayal
never deferential
totally disloyal
to our family
a husband
god and the church
you're the queen of who they wanted you to be
i'm the queen of who they never expected
i've suppressed my ability to love
you've suppressed your ability to rage
i don't care if you never read another poem
you're the best sister
the sister who has my back
the sister i count on
the sister i love.
Bio
"The Poet Laureate of Hell's Kitchen," Chocolate Waters began writing poems when she was eight. That was the same age she burned down a barn smoking. She has received many grants and fellowships, produced four books and been published in hundreds of print and on-line journals. The Greatest Hits of Chocolate Waters, a "Sapphic Classic" chosen by Sinister Wisdom (the longest-running dyke magazine in the U.S.) will appear sometime in 2022. Her latest collection, Muddying the Holy Waters, will be produced by Eggplant Press in 2020. Yes, she loves cats!