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you know it’s time when you start to feel that itch
you know the feeling
right under your skin
it moves
at first, a flutter
gentle
but then
flutters
fluttersss
flutterssssssss
and they’re not so gentle
and then
it’s not a flutter
but a crawl
a stampede of crawly
crawly
crawly
motion
and how could they expect you
to sit
suspended
in that home
with that man
that woman
all too happy
to live
dominated
with all this
creepy
crawly
movement
no
you can’t stay
you’ve got to run
run for her
for the one
whose skin crawled
but who was forever
suspended
stuck in time
imprisoned
by kind or cruel captors
run for her
run
run
run
run so fast
you just can’t feel
that damn itch anymore
and keep running
and if you’re fast enough
and don’t stop running
they’ll never catch you
Excerpt from Children of Liminality: Black Women Pursuing Freedom at the Margins by Woubalem Tezeta