Marquesha Babers

cantfindit

After growing up homeless and channeling her pain into power, Marquesha has become a mentor for Get Lit and an ambassador for the film Girl Rising, which stresses the importance of education for girls in developing countries. With Get Lit, she has performed at the MUSE Conference in Oregon, at the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center (alongside Angelina Jolie and Hillary Clinton), at Cadogan Hall in London, and at colleges and universities throughout the nation. She has also appeared on the series Verses and Flow, and she is a blogger for ONE.org. Look out for her poetry anthology and memoir, coming soon to a bookstore near you! She is also featured in the upcoming 2020 film Summertime, directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada. Source

 

That Girl

people only see me as that girl 

that fat girl just a little too black girl 

always sitting in the back girl 

that girl

people tell me you're weak girl 

no one wants to hear you speak girl 

look at me

I'm not at your feet girl 

stop crying girl 

it's not like you're dying girl 

no one would like you for who you are

and your career definitely won't go far

not with that hair those clothes those shoes 

you really need to change all of you girl

sometimes I tell myself 

you know depression ain’t cute girl 

and you should stop waiting 

and do what you have to do girl 

I mean if you're gonna end it then do it already girl 

just make sure you keep your hands steady girl 

you want to get it right girl 

just wait til night girl 

then get the knife girl

it only takes one slice girl 

look at you 

too weak to take your own life girl 

but God told me

aren't you tired of waiting to die girl 

all you have to do is try girl

I gave you life to live girl 

I gave you your gift to give girl 

I'm always here girl 

it's okay to shed a tear girl 

just don't fear girl 

because you are that girl 

made strong enough to carry the world on your back girl 

so stand up straight girl 

you will be great girl 

it is your fate girl 

don't worry about the past 

remember who was first shall be last 

so you've endured the worst girl

now it's your turn to be first girl 

then God held out his hands 

he said take this girl

don't waste it girl

you'll know when to use it girl 

it's a miracle girl 

like you, you are a miracle girl

Published:

2015

Length:

Regular

Literary Movements:

Contemporary

Spoken Word

Anthology Years:

2021

Themes:

Identity

Strength & Resilience

Womanhood

Literary Devices:

End Rhyme

when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same

Epistrophe

the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses

Rhyme

correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry