eschew (an ode to lil kim’s old face) 11:30

we agreed

you was some special kind of bitch

bad bitches, rich bitches, hood bitches unite

the queen approaches

 

even the feminists agreed

you had every right to be a bitch and a queen simultaneously

get free they said

wit yo bad self

 

those of us who were tired of being victims of “the gaze”

sang your praise

defended your open crotch with feminist rhetoric

and sexually liberated syntax

 

we even turned a blind eye to your new breasts

you can’t be a bad bitch with a flat chest

womanist all around heralded your sexual aggression

take that shit gurl… make him call yo name

 

but when your nose changed

then your cheeks

your skin

we fell silent

 

cause we knew we had lost you

that all that emphasis came with another pressure

perfection

and you… dear sister were a little too African to be perfect

 

we let them whisper it to you for too long

you could’ve kept yo man if you were lighter

whiter

and we never combatted it or did anything to stop it

 

we watched you fall

your stilettoed heel caught on a standard you could never quite achieve

we watched you fall

shook our heads and said… the queen is dead

 

we eulogized your image

replaced you with a cheep knock off

buried you in criticism

and left you there underground