Photo: Tiffany Bessire

Let me be a cross

by Simba Alik Woodard

Inspired by Compagnie Hervé Koubi

I wish I could hold you forever.
Wish i didn't burn so easily.
Wish the blood forgot how to stay
Wish to give you the answers you call for.
Wish I was worthy of your breasts.
It’s so heavy being strong enough to hold a savior and a monster at the same time.
Yet, so beautiful being the one to hear your whispers for serenity. If only I could achieve safety
For you. And him. Then gravity would know no name. My body has been forced to defy gravity
in ways that take the human out of love. For once, I want to fly toward the sun and not a grave.
Or a hurricane ridden fire
Or an unholy prayer
Always, I want to mean love.
Want to loose a burden
And carry a people
And not a sacrifice
Make me homecoming
Nail a peace of hope to me.

About

Simba Alik Woodard

Simba Alik, formerly Simba The Poet, is a Nashville based storyteller and spoken word artist. He is most known for his contribution to the movements for BLACK and TRANS lives through his poetry. Simba is a serial collaborator and relationship builder invested in shifting cultures in the direction of justice and equity.

OZ Arts Nashville presents Art Wire: an ongoing collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch in which 10 writers attend the OZ Arts performance season and respond to the presentations through original writing that is personal, playful, and deeply engaged. The OZ Arts 2019-2020 season offers each Art Wire Fellow a diverse array of inspiration, including innovative Japanese dance artist Hiroaki Umeda; a genre-bending presentation of Frankenstein by Chicago-based company Manual Cinema; and two emotionally raw works with Nashville's own professional dance company, New Dialect, just to name a few.