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Nobody Body
By Rushelle Frazier

suppressing a scream
holding my breath
all the water in my body revolts against the sticky thin walls of my body
having swallowed too many words
overused the sugar coating

I feel like I have grown into the anger that I have always been accused of.
Blossoming wildly beyond the borders imaginable
Climbing through my veins, carrion sweet.
I finally inherited my cell memory

Confronted with the crime of thriving in the face of a fixed deck.

I am drowning drunk in the
volume of my rage

drowning drunk in the dark
parts of my ineffable heart
truthfully illuminated

remembering my own choked-back fist
coiled, forced workweek inert
day after lunch break after micro aggression after injustice after shift start

averted eye, clutched purse
judged so hard my shoulders hurt from the brush off
this 21st century shrugstroke

my hands are achingly empty
this body just a nobody body

Is all this black skin only good for storing bullets?
Is all this flesh only good for burying hurt?

Rushelle Frazier is a spoken word and visual artist based in Savannah, Georgia.  Born in Queens, NY, and raised in Worcester, MA, she has been involved with poetry- page and stage- for the past decade, hosting poetry readings, workshops. She was a member of the 2002 Worcester Adult Slam Team, co-coach of the 2004 Worcester Youth Slam Team and the 2010 Savannah Youth Slam Team. She was voted Best Female Poet at the 2006 Savannah Spoken Word Festival. She’s the creator of the Dirty Gerund Poetry Show in Worcester, MA, and Tongue! Open Mouth and Music Show in Savannah, GA. Currently, she is in East Tennessee, pursuing a career in permaculture design. She will have her seventh chapbook out in Fall/Winter 2013.