Aries Hines – Poetry
Good Woman for Nikki Giovanni’s Ego Trippin
A good woman my hips conjure
rose petals and sweet tea convert
lost laundry socks into protective charm quilts
whole murals flow from my body
compose manifestos while I burn sage into corners
I blow cowry shells and children fly from my mouth
repopulate the earth like flowers
grow roots in my tongue from ancestors’ transcriptions
I play 4-way patty cake and double-dutch in my sleep
a good woman my stomach so full of pens I regurgitate whole volumes
rolly pollies dance on my belly
my skin a divination to the moon
curse words my natural incense
baby birds born where I step
my hair strands chant release from struggle
my voice a naming ceremony for the lost and last to be buried
swallow pain with my hands and create obeah women
I manipulate tears and make them wings
a good woman my earrings removable become warning shields to evil
my onyx rings unfold into grown ass woman body hugs
sip granite from the stars and spew houses for single mothers
I give away whole weeks to the universe and create summer
whisper purpose to our young males and pretend its mix-tapes
spin water from silk screens and blow bubbles to our dead
True Science Fiction
I want to wake up with Octavian eyes
sit front row
at the Kindred movie premiere
go home and watch Blood Child on the Sci-Fi network
eat at the opening dinner for
the Octavia Butler foundation
help my niece apply for the Butler scholarship
for sci-fi writers of color to write themselves into a new world order
invite Octavia for dinner
make her my children’s godmother
write her the poem she wears on her skin
I want a ride with her on the bus
her words wallpaper my bathroom
her stories folktales for generations
paint her voice into my skin
I want to hold
the last thing she wrote
her heart archive
I want her to be treated like any one of those
white
male
sci-fi
kings
wouldn’t that be
some true science fiction
Aries Hines is a fierce femme, diva mermaid, and giver of great hugs. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Mills College. She has a ridiculous amount of books and loves nebulae, dresses, and cable TV. Her film work has been featured at film festivals including The Austin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, her poetry and performances have been published widely and been a part of the San Francisco Queer Arts Festival for her one woman show “My Dyscalculia Voice” about disability and race, The Queer Girl Theater Project, Colorlines Magazine, The Journal of Lesbian Studies, Black Girl Dangerous and more. Her work explores race, identity,queerness, and family. She is currently at work on her memoir and a collection of poems. She resides in San Diego and sometimes performs for So Say We All.
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