Dear Love,
All I want in life is God and a Doctorate
After that I’m gone
Burn me like the pages of a banned book
and sprinkle my ashes over Coretta Scott King Roses
Life full of pain
pained discoveries that classroom history books
are fiction novels
and fiction novels are banned and burned
if they are any good
banned thoughts that support the value of the marginalized
burned pages that detail untold stories
they banned me
they burned me
until you get your doctorate
then, to the world you’re legitimized. Kinda.
A professional of thought. Kinda.
still marginalized, still devalued, still other
still labeled
But I am reborn in these pages that they burn
pencils and pages give me the opportunity to be
the petals of a beautiful black woman
out of ash, dirt, and death
they let me talk to God
So I write you love letters
and maybe one day, my love letter will get me a doctorate
I mean all I want in life is you and a Doctorate
After that I’m gone
Let the pages of my soul burn
and sprinkle my ashes over Coretta Scott King Roses
So my love will grow pink and bloom
Let the earth be my urn and my royal tomb
I’ll be home soon. See you then.
Sincerely,
Dr.Woods
“Camille Iman Woods is an undergraduate at UC Davis interested in advances in medicine through the arts. Camille would like to do graduate study in linguistics to examine the impact of Art therapy – poetry, dance, etc. – on the autistic brain and social interactions. Camille is the creator, editor and facilitator of aggieANGELOUS, UC Davis first poetry column. She loves to laugh and has a newfound love for Afro-Cuban salsa dancing. “
