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Michael Meyer<br />
MEETFELICEBELLEnuyoricanSLAMMASTER<br />
Felice Belle is Gemini and a Prince fan. Born and raised in Mount Vern<strong>on</strong>, NY, she currently<br />
resides in Brooklyn. She is a graduate student at NYU’s Gallatin School of<br />
Individualized Study and teaches poetry part-time to third and fifth graders at PS 165<br />
in Flushing. A poet first and foremost, Felice has performed at the Apollo Theater, the<br />
Henry Street Settlement, Rikers Island and various colleges and universities throughout<br />
the United States. Her work has been published in the Columbia University-based<br />
journal Roots and Culture and The Gallatin Review. She was a 1999 Grand Slam finalist<br />
and the alternate for the slam team that represented the Cafe at the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Poetry<br />
Slam in Chicago.<br />
next lifetime<br />
my mind is being fucked<br />
with c<strong>on</strong>sistency<br />
the rest of my body<br />
is getting jealous<br />
like your father<br />
who refused to eat<br />
tomatoes from the tree<br />
your mother’s lover<br />
planted in your backyard<br />
we ate that fruit<br />
religiously received<br />
each bulb<br />
(a sunset-red)<br />
like communi<strong>on</strong> bread<br />
do this for the remembrance<br />
of me<br />
i do this<br />
today there will be<br />
no hand wavin<br />
no foot stompin<br />
no spirits being gotten<br />
for the remembrance of me<br />
i reincarnate myself<br />
uptown<br />
harlem<br />
brown<br />
black<br />
man<br />
with wisdom-colored curls<br />
and creased face<br />
say,<br />
“hey, soldier. what’s going<br />
<strong>on</strong>?”<br />
my mouth smiled wide<br />
“hi.”<br />
‘cause mista<br />
had skipped the<br />
my chocolatequeensista jive<br />
he saw war in my eyes<br />
wanted to know what<br />
i was fighting for<br />
“just your everyday defensive”<br />
i say<br />
“bye.”<br />
mouth twisted wry<br />
flashed peace sign<br />
decide i’m<br />
reincarnating myself<br />
today<br />
shed dead socialized skin<br />
hand-me-down habits<br />
passed through generati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
mothering men who’s<br />
cords ain’t been cut yet<br />
persecuted when<br />
flashing inappropriate<br />
amounts of leg<br />
and/or intellect<br />
respect<br />
is an r&b top-forty hit<br />
me and i’ll stay<br />
because being bruised<br />
beats being al<strong>on</strong>e<br />
well now,<br />
i’m too grown to<br />
play dumb<br />
play dead<br />
for no <strong>on</strong>e<br />
instead<br />
play big boy games<br />
for a taste of that male privilege<br />
i hear so much about<br />
still the odd woman out<br />
thought i had my foot <strong>on</strong> base<br />
thought i’d found a safe space<br />
put <strong>on</strong> my poker face<br />
the dealer called spades<br />
said rules were meant to<br />
change<br />
with the game<br />
and i’ve forgotten what i was<br />
playing for<br />
so i create imaginary playmates<br />
who challenge me to<br />
mold reality like<br />
fluorescent colored play-doh<br />
train myself up<br />
in the way i should go<br />
i put faith<br />
in myself<br />
so when i’m let down<br />
i know who to blame<br />
i talk to myself<br />
when no <strong>on</strong>e wants to hear<br />
what i have to say<br />
i talk to myself out loud<br />
so you’re going to have to listen<br />
anyway<br />
today<br />
didn’t have the energy<br />
to reincarnate<br />
needed<br />
a hug,<br />
your love,<br />
a foot rub<br />
(in that order)<br />
perfecti<strong>on</strong> is a percepti<strong>on</strong><br />
that exists <strong>on</strong>ly in your head<br />
all the saints i know are dead<br />
that is a prerequisite for sainthood<br />
good samaritans get greedy<br />
sometimes superheroes get<br />
needy<br />
revoluti<strong>on</strong>aries are not above<br />
compromise<br />
and jazz musicians must<br />
rehearse<br />
before they can improvise<br />
i am starting over<br />
now<br />
is<br />
my<br />
next lifetime<br />
i am searching for signs<br />
still trying to find<br />
the less<strong>on</strong> in all this<br />
–Felice Belle
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