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.
“Unexpected” by Chima “Naira” Ikoro
Note: The story of an “unlikely” hero is often a misnomer for the intersection of Blackness and odds defying odds. Likeliness does not negate worthiness, and does not suggest ability.
The idea of a hero being “unexpected” depends on who dares to expect what.
A house painter and a laundress
once raised up a boy
from dreams and brush strokes,
to stages a man like him hadn’t ever crossed before.
I heard that he could see the history he’d soon make
from his childhood homes front porch—
said “university,”
meant “mountain top for my flag.”
Stayed on that porch even as he journeyed to class daily,
said “no one would be my roommate”
meant “I am ready, but they are not.”
Still, as the story follows our “unlikely” but more than exceptional hero,
we watch as he gathers good graces and connections
like puzzle pieces, crafting a legacy
that cannot be fathomed if you can’t see the full picture.
Look beyond the corner and the porch,
see our hero collecting more puzzle pieces
as far as France, Italy, the School of Rome.
Said “I don’t need a roommate, I will make this art my home.”
A Black man magnificent/Hercules,
the distance he knew he could go.
A house painter and a laundress
once raised up a boy
from brilliance to brilliance,
who sat in classes where students read from books
that set a blue tint over the Blackness he refused to hold shame for.
A boy who looked those books directly in their spine
and said “this is as far as you go.”
A boy who bridged the gap
that whiteness washed between the sand of our skin
and the shores of our talent.
“Unlikely” is not a qualifier used for anyone else’s legacies except for ours,
but who is daring to expect? And what exactly were they expecting?
Prompt:
“Write a piece about defying the odds.”
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 response to a previous prompt from a reader. The last poem and prompt can be found online.
The Institution of Dreamin by Makale Moore
Tribute to Cameron Awkward Rich
Has short walls to it,
it doesn’t hold us captive, allowing us to flow freely in-n-out,
like young ones playing with Granny’s good air.
Every wall is painted with artistic expressions
the teachers are fellow “derelicts” & “mischiefs”,
and the only form of standardized testing is based on imagination.
What will we change with our mind?
When class starts the lesson of the day is possibility,
I sleep through it, because I’m dreamin of places I’ll go.
There’s power in believing, I’m meant for places beyond walls
Normality doesn’t bully our indifferences here.
The only thing that makes us run home is when the music plays over the intercoms,
instead of bells of institution
to exhibit the magic we created.
Hoping one day, the world will value it,
as much as we value 4.0s,
because it’s more than enough.
Here, the mission statement
is to teach, our ingenuity equals merit.
Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.