Scribe // T. Lydia McKinney

SCRIBE

BY T. LYDIA MCKINNEY

I
subscribe to the pronoun
we

as in

we
don’t f*ck with them

or

in this house
we
don’t play that

We,
the people
protect one another I’d say
we family but

we
don’t f*ck with them either

We world

We children

We weebles
wobble
but never squabble

we
don’t rob
or plagiarize

We strategize
categorizing our emotions
according to size

don’t sweat the small stuff
we
stick to our promise

for this reason

we probably won’t make any

sorry

we can’t answer questions
it’s against policy

get thee
behind we
Satan

Where two or three come
We shall be   an everlasting love

a revolution
we solution
f*ck this pollution
sweep the streets

we mop
we silk road
we paved with gold

we cold
as molded clay pots

we play
until soul’s content

we disconnect
never attaching ourselves
to falling water

we run
lunge hurdles for opportunities
attuned to unity

we together
flock of feather

whether the weather is wet

where the wild things

We Empire
We Jussie
We police
We justice of peace
We prejudice

       protect
       project
anger and fear onto each other

We Marshall

We fall down
we apologize

We serve
we organize
for we are

human

We work it out

sometimes   together   maybe

We hope.

T. Lydia McKinney “The Prodigy Truth” is a Black non-binary performing artist, writer, social work protégé, and domestic violence survivor based in Houston, TX. They are a poetry slam finalist in both San Antonio (2022, 2023) and Houston, Texas (2022, 2024). When not writing, T. Lydia serves various communities as a direct support professional and case manager, supporting the lives of mentally-ill and disabled.