2003 Langston Hughes Poetry Contest Winners

The Burden of Brilliance
by Keturah Kendrick of New York, NY

I talked to toni morrison
late last nite
she sat on the edge of my bed
and told me to
get over it

you are not me

that is why I have never finished my novel
or started it
why my words are only cute
not beautiful

song of solomon sucked
really, I never meant to show it to my agent

see, toni
(she told me to call her that)
is frustrated with folks fussing over her
acting like stories never got told before she told 'em

all these damn intellectuals
debatin' and dissectin'
pickin' apart what just had to be wrote
that's all it is, chile
just stuff that had to be wrote

I'd never heard toni talk like that
using broken up words
sounding like she didn't win a pulitzer

toni was tired
is tired, I imagine, of me
because I want too much
I am an insatiable lover
who doesn't realize her man
wants to go back to sleep

I am an annoying little sister
standing in the shadow
hand me down symbolism
worn as original thought

write what need to be wrote, lil girl
just write what need to be wrote

and leave my ass out of it

Back to Tom Dent Literary Festival, 2003