portrait of a jasmine

they should want me
framed in a museum,
hand drawn stories of a flower
that fell to this earth as a seed
and bloomed beneath a sun not meant for me,
outgrew the Earth despite everything.

at night i would pull away from the paint
and crawl down to the smooth stone floor,
twist my body upright and stumble through the hallways,
fingertips dragging along the walls and catching corners,
stopping to press my lips against art of my people,
the stolen hearts of my people.

i would fill my body with empty air and give it back
full of “thank you, this is what i prayed for”.

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Nappy Head Hiyyih is a Black autistic writer, movement arts enthusiast, and cooperation-based educator from Flint, Michigan. A writer out of love and spiritual necessity, their connection to written art is personal and cultural. They write for themself—but they share their writing with others as a way of holding hands without touch.