Lady and The Chariot

by Porscha Simmons

In my Kingdom

My chariot sits on rims

Candy colored paint dripping off

Match my nails

That match my rings

All gold

Nothing fake

I wear my wealth ever since Black Wall Street burned

And my Empress’ land got water logged when unfamiliar hands built Lake Lanier.

Which is to say my memory runs as long as my skirt be short.

I hold ancestral lessons, memory and connection

You can see it in my walk, and you can hear it in my talk.

I’m the definition of regal and was the synonym for a Lady back when Miriam and Webster were still learning to read. 

And I'm all corner store Queen

Holding court showing these Princesses how to hold a Kingdom together

On breath, air and what I’ve sewn together with the thread of my own becoming 

I'm the High Priestess of my block and  

I walk it like royalty because my Chariot sits on rims 

Candy colored paint dripping off that match my nails and I’m fly 

Like High John

Like my folks that grew wings and flew up out of their chains

So I wear this chain on my neck in remembrance of me and us.