jenahvay Jenahviyah - full poem

Jenahvay Jenahviyah -Full Poem 👇🏽

(Thinking about my name)

What if my name isn't a blessing

But a curse

It is making tea in cursive

Thinking about my name

This name my mother gave me

If only she spelled it the way it sounds

Mispronunciations are a passed down hatred

So is misinterpretations

A changing of a name from the time we

Came through the middle passage

stepped off those ships of horror

With a European stamp from the beginning

Why am I....

It is making coffee in hieroglyphs

Thinking about my name

Banging on a bamboo djembe for heartbeat imitations

Dancing Mbende in Shona

Calling all orishas

Speaking Igbo several different ways

Because language is a nomenclature.....

Where am I

But what if my name

isn't a curse

But a blessing

It is dreading my locs in Rastafarian

Thinking about my name

Bob Marley & Rita Marley Mixed

marijuana and vanilla extract in peace

An Erykah Badu playlist in rotation

Jojoba oil soil

An astrological frequency

What am I

It is writing in poetry

Thinking about my name

Swahili & Arabic

It is a kente cloth

A karite tree making Shea butter skin

Light, medium, & dark cocoa

Cinnamon, nutmeg, & all spice

Navy bean soup for a black Muslim dinner

A How to eat to live Mentality

Who am I

What if my name

Isn't first but last

It is swimming in brown sugar and fig baths

Thinking about my name

african violets and black lotus flowers

Coconut elixirs

Honey Vanilla Chamomile

Kahlua cream on top of Crown Royal On Ice

Pumpkin Spiced wadada (love)

Hazelnut with an Amharic accent

When am I...

It is prayers in Ghetto Legend Praises

Thinking about my name

Due to lost people phases

That Came from half truths

Yet, Selah awakenings

Allah, Still I rise

A message to the black woman in America

A message to the black man in America

An origin of uncut pure culture

an afro pick with a black fist

A Headwrap to protect energy

As-Salaam-Alaikum

Wa-Alaikum-Salaam

How am I...

But What if my name isn't last

But first...

(C) Jenavia Powell 2023 Dashiki Mentality 2024