a. adenike phillips

a. adenike phillips (she/her) is a Black, feminist seed-saving woman who finds meaning in poetry, collage and oral history. She is committed to documenting and amplifying the stories of marginalized people. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Amistad, Zora’s Den, Gulfstream Magazine, The Hellebore Press and elsewhere.

to bloom is an act of defiance

-After Lucille Clifton & Gwendolyn Brooks

a cottony-white show, defiance fisted 

& unfurled, who made you queen 

of this meadow?  crown sown

in this maze of seed, stalk, stem

& flower. this storied place spirals

& sprouts, layers of wonder drenched

in emerald, goldenrod, white, blood

red & blue. audacity displayed in every 

corner bright & bursting forth, 

with the promise of freedom but who 

decodes the truth of it?  behind you stands 

a foreboding dark country, yet every day

you decide to glisten & stretch, something

essential deposited inside you has

decided to thrive, though constantly tried

& bullied by storms drenching down to 

your roots, attempted to kill

you by drowning, your eyes tell me

you have waded in this water before &

resisted its winds, today it has 

ferocious, judicial force but failed

to uproot your purpose, stay grounded

here, mounded & upright, do not 

wilt when the light licks your leaves 

conduct your blooming in the noise

& whip of the whirlwind, let your 

seasons be brilliance despite brutalities, 

perform this rite seen or unseen 

celebrated or uncelebrated you are plenty 

of woman,  perennial & furious flower

i 

      Note: Italicized text is from The Second Sermon on the Warpland by Gwendolyn Brooks