NO WOMAN

By Farah Lawal Harris

“No Woman, No Cry” personified,

Black woman with the thickest hide,

skin slick to slip off insults and pride.

She don’t cry, but

she curses.

She don’t cry, but

adversity visits her daily,

drops in unexpectedly for dinner

and don’t never bring shit but

an appetite and the same tired, tall tales

bout how the Black woman is hard as nails—

Never frail, only tough.

Never feminine enough.

No woman.

No cry.