My Chair

Issue No. 4: Black Maternal Health
Words - Vanessa Siverls & Di'Angela Thomas

Doctor, Doctor!
Where is my chair?
I don’t have one…
Got me scratchin’ the rows in my hair.
Is it in the lost and found
With my sisters 6ft underground
Sustained relics
Exposed Pelvics
On display around town
Doctor, Doctor!
Where is my chair?
I’m 240% sure
It’s in the Brooklyn Cemetery
Where it’ll never wash up on shore.

Doctor, Doctor!
Where is my chair?
Are you sure your practices are fair?
Because last time I checked
The internet
Henrietta Lacks never got her check
Doctor, Doctor!
Where is my chair?
You down with OPP
Because that’s my property
I’m down with CBD
Which shows you don’t know me
My FLOTUS said “Let’s Move”
She didn’t mean my chair
She pushed us to share the truth about our bodies
And how they work
And how they don’t work
And YOU are NOT working
I NEED my chair

Cut? For What! For What! For What!
Are we in space?
If not, why do I got all these alien lights all up in my face?
Modern gynecology started with me
The human race started with me
Yet my body isn’t free
It needs its chair
It’s skin is Black
It’s arms are long
It’s hair is woolly
It’s back is strong
No need to go against gravity
with my legs all in the air
All I need is Aunt Sarah and my chair