Little Girls Who Cannot Grow by Tiffany Hudgins

Look at that little girl. 

Her eyes, the same shining 

As polished marbles 

And her skin as complicated 

As rotting tree bark. 

She does not know 

How to grow. 

And so her bones creak 

To show how 

Even when trapped 

In a stunted youth, 

Her own ivory 

Is cracked and flawed 

And used, worn down 

From the generations 

Of backaches 

Her soul carries. 

Gospel hymns sung by the river 

Now leak through her 

In christened tears. 

The salt water she drank then, 

Is the salt water she 

Releases now. 

There is no wonder 

Why her vessel is believed 

To be crafted of magic. 

A walking home to 

Every shining soul

Of little girls

Who cannot grow. 

Tiffany Hudgins is a 29 yr old Black femme creative from Los Angeles, Ca. She’s been writing poems since the third grade and uses poetry as a way of connecting with both herself and with the world around her. Using every day to improve and develop her voice as a writer, Hudgins hopes her creative journey inspires others to follow their paths as well. 

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