Darkness in The Margins | The New Engagement
Darkness In The Margins poetry art

Darkness in The Margins

By Lola Rainey

Turd

Sewed my own. Wedding dress. Simple. Cheap. Way you see. Me. Sitting in the corner. Frowned up. Mad. You settled. Skinny black girl. Short. Nappy hair. Baby belly. Wanna fight.

 

Wish I had. Rubber band arms.  Hug you. Standing downstairs.  Gonna fix something. Good. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. Brown gravy. Homemade biscuits. Know how it feels. Want a prize—get a turd.

 

Bring you beer. Take a sip.  Throw the can. Splatter suds. All over my dress.  It’s ok.  Been living off. Crumbs. Long time.

 

You. My husband.  Now.   Going downstairs.  Fix dinner.

 

Beautiful One

``

 

Hustling. Drinking. Fighting. Is your thing. Blind in one eye. Messing 'round

Lil' Agnes. Cracked your skull. Almost died. Too stubborn. Let life go easy.

Pulled the IVs out. Your scabby arms. Took the city bus here. Damn boy.

Breaks me down. See you so far gone. Take out a blunt. Smoke it all. Trying to say.

The words.  I SURRENDER. So get up. Off  my couch. Close the door. Don’t come

back. On cue. You unzip your skin. Shake dew. From rose petal limbs. Bathe me in

perfume. One thousand buds. Burst into bloom. You’re beautiful. Fills the room. Spills

into the hallway. Makes Ruby Jewel. Knock on the door. Pay back the ten dollars. She

owes.

 

Lola Rainey

Lola Rainey is a Southwestern based poet and storyteller. She started writing poetry roughly six years ago, and it has become her favorite form of creative expression due to the fact that her life in the desert "lends itself to introspection and quiet reflection". She considers herself a multi-cultural poet because she grew up in the racially and culturally diverse borderlands of Southern Arizona. Her travels to places like Southeast Asia and North Africa expanded her concept of family and altered her notions about "belonging"; "experiences that helped this daughter of the African Diaspora feel more rooted in the world". In 2015, she completed Callaloo Journal's Writer's Workshop held at Brown University. From Lola: "The experience was transformative. It forced me to rethink everything I thought I knew about poetry. I am grateful for the shattering of the old because I like the new poet emerging from those broken bits."

Join Us!

Mercy, ingenuity, nuance, complex truths, guts and honor still matter! Join us in proclaiming so by purchasing, or giving the gift of, a print subscription (2 issues per year) to The New Engagement.

Subscribe

Follow Us

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive."
~ James Baldwin

Help us spread the ethos of compassion and understanding by joining our social media networks and sharing generously!

Contests & Prizes

Flash Fiction Contest
On May 1st, we announced the winners of our Flash Fiction Contest: Thomas Garcia (1st), Rick Krizman (2nd), and Rios de la Luz (3rd). Read more.

The James Baldwin Literature Prize
It is with great pleasure that we announce the winner of The James Baldwin Literature Prize of $1,000 to Hafsa Musa. Read more.

The New Engagement

The New Engagement endeavors a novel approach to discovering, introducing, and showcasing writers, artists, and filmmakers, by providing them digital and print platforms, while encouraging and supporting their social-consciousness.