I didn’t tend to her tomb the way I didn’t tend to my wounds. We didn’t go to the cemetery because my sister said she wasn’t there. And I believed her, or maybe I needed to. I spent years turning my head away from headstones because every one of them had my mother’s face. It was easier not to think about her. The opposite looked like too much; too wide, too dark, too permanent. So when she crossed my mind, I crossed the street. I drank. I smoked. I ran into the arms of people

Last year, my therapist asked me what Nikki Giovanni and I have in common. I had spent 5 sessions discussing her book "Gemini" and how it was changing my life. At first, I wanted to say nothing, except that we are both Black, female, queer, and creative. She was shorter than I, lighter than I, and braver than I could ever be. She was a Cancer; I’m an Aquarius. I’ve always thought Cancer women were hot-tempered, too emotionally driven. I like to think I’m more even-tempered th