Afro Dread
Bone of contention
Better not to mention
How big my Afro looks…

Afro’s
Unlike the texture of my hair
Were

Sparse

And
Almost unheard
Of
In the town
Where
I lived, that’s why
At
School
They took the piss
This
Is why I hated my Afro.

Afro Dread
I hated my hair
And the way
The rest of the class would

Stare

When
Skinny
Ugly
Village
Boy
Would say

TESTING 1 2 3
Microphone head
Afro Dread.

AFRO TO DREAD

Afro
Coarse
And
Thick
Like the comments
From racists
Matted and twisted
Like
Their jungle names for you.

My
Dreadlocks threatened
Put
Certain people in headlocks.

DREAD TO AFRO.

I cut my locks
Celebrated my ‘fro
Combed it right out
And basked in an Afro glow.