“A Dancehall Queen” by Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa

yielded to dutchpot darkness
balancing night on her heels
waiting for someone to make falling exciting
congregations raid women like these
to turn backsides and backbones into relics
they always leave the ocean for the flies
the baddest riddims forever damp in their skulls

here spins a sinner
begging tuh be filled with more dan a soulless ting

Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa is a British-born, Barbadian-raised poet and dancer. Her work has appeared in The Caribbean Writer, The Amistad, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, and more.