The Girl Got So Much Heart (2006)

(A Woman's Work By WAK)


The girl got so much heart
that there is no room for halfhearted love.

and that is what you love about her
and that is what you hate about her

cauze

You're not ready to handle it.
This--
heart
Yes, you.

May I recall in the words of a defiant halle berry
in february of 1992

I may not have hair weaved all down my back
but I've got a heart

that was the black woman's anthem.

we applauded because
we love
love hard
and lose often

and you ask why I'm so stingy

I've got so much heart
I don't have room for half hearted love

But the question is,
can you handle it?

You wince as if hit
with an elliptical
bit of history

Yes, gentlemen we have been boomeranged.

I am myth and fact
in a syncronized swim
beautiful isis-ish royal lineage
but still required to polish my own crown

you say you love me
but your love wears me down

you sit at the foot of my sick bed
but never offer me a cold glass of water

you see me walk five flights of stairs
and never offer to help

you say my name like it is silk
but treat my soul like polyester wash and wear

you watch me wait for my bus in the rain
never offer me a ride

you pull out the chair from under me
instead of for me

Thank God
I am able, through my maker
to do all things

can make strings into silk
and water into wine
and rain into rivers
and grits into groceries
and a chair for a table

set for us
and check
this
I will fix you a hot plate
of my own sweet confidence
before I take a bite

But I cannot create
in you the sense of inspiration
in the me of us
and trust
is sinking in quicksand passing

a hot pain
with no antipyretic in sight

I need you to understand
that i am not invincible
neither am I without defenses

I am a woman
and I have a unrepentant
heart
strong
and
weak

for you

and I expect you
to

handle this heart
like history

a dynamic, but
delicate heirloom
that has survived
in spite of
itself

I expect you to handle it
like your health
consistent in your care

I expect you to handle it
like the man
I know you are
when you
stop
trying to act like one