by Shayla Card-Nowlin
When we were kids – we played tag across our aunties living room, her words would chase us
“All that movin’, all that playin’, all that jumpin’. You better stop before you break something
in this house”
In this house – it is fine china-cabinet-family antique-snow globes
Is what we are in
Sometimes, the world seems so small I can stretch my hands across the equator
Fragile
Everything could perish if we make any sudden move
And to that I say,
Dance midwestern girl dance
Twirl – Flip – Stomp
Shake so much – the snowglobe falls off the shelf and shatters
And you run with the glass in your feet
It is always better to move than stay still
Because the water, glitter and glycerin fill your lungs
Makes it harder to breathe, makes you as plastic as the figurine you been loaned as your body
This is for all who wish to inhale an air that is not their own
Who let all “the good air” out while going to and from outside to play
Ain’t that just gettin’ free?
Ain’t that just a change of scenery?
Ain’t that who we should be?
Who dream of broken routine
For those who play dress up as the future, passion as pink as their grandmama’s bathroom tile
Optimism as green as their cousin’s cabbage with corn beef
I wrote this for kids in the hood of rustbelt with spick-and-span ambition, break the mold –
shine thru
Listen to the poem here:
Mural of two girls playing. Common Source Acupuncture, Depot Town. Photo credit: Shayla Card-Nowlin
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Shayla Card-Nowlin is a Detroit native, currently residing in Ypsilanti and a library clerk and program coordinator. She is passionate about telling stories surrounding the human experience, and coming of age stories that help Black girls across the globe feel seen. “Midwest Girl” is a love letter to all girls she encountered growing up and to those she meets as a young adult. May we all become who we dream to be.
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This is an original poem, brought to you by Poet Tree Town, a Washtenaw-based poetry-in-public initiative and celebration of local poets. Find out more about Poet Tree Town on Instagram and Facebook, or say hello at [email protected].
