The Exchange: Foreheads, Haikus and More

The Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly. 

The Function of Forehead
by Chima “Naira” Ikoro 

Inspired by a workshop led by E’mon Lauren 

theoretically speaking, 
functionality considered, 
you gotta be big. 
you’ve got big responsibilities;
need the proper room to hold meetings and mediate
between my eyebrows and my edges. 
hold my thoughts in place,
Steward of My Frontal Lobe/wig. 

remind folks i am my fathers child,
this is where i hold his genes.
remind me of the moon, so 
influential. 
you drive a facial expression home, 
shift skin around like the tide, 
ripples remind folks i have an 
attitude. 

Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.

Prompt

“Explain the functionality of something you see every day.” 

This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces. 

Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com.

Featured below is a reader response to a previous prompt. The last poem and prompt can be found here. 

Spring Commute
by Sky Patterson

Cold sheets of rain fall 
as I march to my bus stop.
Walk turns into run.

A Haiku about Fall/Spring, Death/Rebirth
by Alejandro Hernandez

A lively Summer
Fades. Leaves turn golden and die,
Nourishing next spring

A Haiku About Smoking Weed in a Forest in Michigan
by Alejandro Hernandez

Green all around me
Smoke signals drift in the wind
God bless Mother Earth

Honest Haikus
by Monica Kakkar

haiku 1

spring springs memories
Lake Michigan on my mind
Tai chi with the trees 

haiku 2

head, tail, cross and more
winds, I take off and … Touchdown! 
The Windy City!

haiku 3

we are the people 
spring of possibilities
Chicago South Side

haiku 4

my Achilles’ heel 
mixed-media artistry
Chicago Deep Dish

haiku 5

few honest haiku 
home-brewed blend of honest tea
here’s to Wrigley Field!

Easter Interlude (Haikus)
by Imani Joseph

Once upon a time
My nigga rose from the dead 
For ghetto Mecca

Cold morning hot night 
Blooms orchids n cicadas 
Flip flop weather holds 

Dancing bark teasing 
Sprouting pollen n apples
Miss forest’s floor 

Is wet from the rain
My homies drowning inside
Swamp ghost trap launches 

New blaxploitation
Film featuring the city
Gurlll trickster in spring

fairy observations
by Diacos Love

No.1 the endorphin rites

let lavender’s lust 
seduce fems with a rose toy 
when in cherry time 

No.2 his gaping hole

the most powerful 
Exothermic pumping of 
a holy halo 

No.3 fall

thanks giving…is it 
ethical? yes. like mac cheese 
from an un-clean pot 

No. 4 a strange teacher

you’re bald with loose leaf’d 
hair that flakes on our class but 
do you have purpose?