QUICK WASH
NORMAL
The feelin’ of warm light signals my eyes to open I’m not down bad but I ain’t fresh either i need to shake things up for a quick reset Slow hustle to the bathroom Slow hustle to my damn room Hell I deserve a joint for a treat The music trembles through me I’m moving all of me My hands wave in the air
It’s a rite of passage The music wakes you and instantly you wish you could have slept through it If you don’t leave your room now your mom will be in there any minute doing it for you Throwing you into the load of refreshing your home If you stay on top of the mess there’s not much to do Sloshing around and sudsing down Before you know it’s you waking your little ones up to shuffle around the home you’ve made If I could choose my sisters I’d choose these joyous headaches every time. The first babies I raised The people I’d go to war for Yeah they work my nerves but even a global cooties outbreak couldn’t keep me from sharing space with them Your cooties are my cooties Teach me the TikTok let’s shake our booties
I’m whipping my hair I’m tryna see if I got stallion knees!
BRIGHTS
HAND WASH/DELICATES Oh, Mommy!
Worn out wouldn’t accurately express all this mess Milk soaked shirts and jammies covered in poop Food spills as I hurry to eat before those precious cries tell me my time is up On the tenth day I cried. Thought it was all under control The help that’d been promised was hard to find. So it proved true, the responsibility would be all mine.
WASH SPIN REPEAT The eMotion
HEAVY DUTY Heart severely stained the day my dad left behind his human shell A muddy mess of ruin and denial Unable to grasp the
Wash spin repeat Goes life and all its memories
I’ve always wanted to be a mom I had no idea it would beat me through my transition Giving so much of me that it feels I’d need forever until I noticed me And when I get that break I’ve been dreaming of I spend it looking at pictures and videos Reminded that such a beautiful mess needs to be treated with care Spot cleaned by hand Brightened up by those wide eyes A very gentle cleaning seeing those tiny fingers on my chest
emptiness stinging me to a low hummmmm Bone aching waves in this whirlpool of breath snatching sorrows Tumbling from one memory to the next The emotions ricochet Soggy and heavy when I think it’s over The flood is back before my lungs can get air Rinsed and twisted with a ear splitting feral cry erupting from a place I don’t know And when it’s done I’m not soggy but still definitely heavy The pure scent of smiles and laughter diverge Examining each wrung out piece of me when my heart contracts Missed a spot Start cycle again
LAMISHA DUREE, artistically known as Mishimama is a multi-dimensional artist born and raised in the Bay Area who lives by her motto, “Hella into art. Hella figuring out my own.”
Machine by LAMISHA DUREE
54
in dance SPRING 2023 54
SPRING 2023 in dance 55
In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
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