1. Because black
2. Because she
3. Because she black
4. Because she because she black
because she wife
5. Because she because she black
because she wife because she hoop
6. Because she because she black
because she wife because she dunk
because she tatted up
7. Because free because free black
because wife free because free throw
because free ink because she tall
8. Because she because she light
because she wife because she net
because she inked because she height
because she loc(ked) up
9. Because she because she black
because she wife because she block
because she inked because she stat(ure)
because she twist because she paid
10. Because [ ] because [ ] black
because [ ] wife because [ ] post
because [ ] paint because [ ] tall
because [ ] loc & key because [ ] paid
because [ ] write
11. Because she because she gold
because she wife because she fly
because she art because she high top
because she fade because she paid
because she write because she out
12. Because she because she black
because she wife because she pass
because she ink because she tall
because she fade because she paid
because she write because she out
because she back
13. Because she Paul, Sarah, or Marc Brittney
14. Because she Kamala Joe is
15. Because she me free
Valerie A. Smith’s first book of poems, Back to Alabama, is forthcoming from Sundress Publications in 2024. She has a PhD from Georgia State University and a MA from Kennesaw State University where she currently teaches English. Her poems appear in Radix, Aunt Chloe, Weber, Spectrum, Obsidian, Crosswinds, Dogwood, Solstice, Oyster River Pages, and Wayne Literary Review, among others. Above all, she values spending quality time with her family.
