Bits & Pieces: After Therapy for Black Women

By Ebony Payne-English

Bits & Pieces: After Therapy For Black Women, is a deep dive into the myriad of emotions experienced in love, sex, and relationships. The 32 poem collection by award-winning author and poet Ebony Payne-English expresses many unvoiced sentiments surrounding the trauma of loving, losing, and learning to love again. 

In t

• Language: English
• Publisher: NEW Reads Publications
• Release date: Jul 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781735721958

Ebony Payne-English

Ebony Payne-English is an author, performer, playwright, and educator from Duval County, Florida. She is the author of graphic novel, The Random Happenings, as well as award winning poetry collection, Secrets of Ma'at, Ebony's discography includes 7 albums including Bits & Pieces (2022). She can be found online at www.ebonypayneenglish.com.

Book preview

Bits & Pieces After Therapy for Black Women

Also by Ebony Payne-English

The Random Happenings

Secrets of Ma’at

Bits & Pieces After Therapy for Black Women

Ebony Payne-English





NEW Reads Publications | Jacksonville NEW Reads Publications | Jacksonville

Copyright © 2022 Ebony Payne-English

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in the United States by NEW Reads Publications. NEW Reads Publications is a registered trademark of NEW Reads Publications, LLC in Jacksonville, FL.

newreadspub.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-7357219-4-1 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-7357219-5-8 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Interior design by Nikesha Elise Williams

Cover design by Nicole Nico Holderbaum

First Edition: July 2022

For my Mabel, Mattie, Joyce Ann, Brenda, Regina, Renica, Sherica, Stephanie, Tamara, Akemi, Miracle, Na’Kima, Shaleka, Jasmine, and all the colored girls who’ve considered suicide when the rainbow is enough.

Contents

Bits & Pieces I: Menstruation

The Wind Is My Mother 15

Love In 4 Parts 17

Fragile 21

Bits & Pieces II: Departure Cleansing

2 Part Question 27

Chunks & Pits 30

Desocialized 32

Bits & Pieces III: Birth Story

Are You There Love? 38

Meditation I: Be Still 40

Family Tree 42

Bits & Pieces IV: Fact Check

Sink Or Swim 48

A Song For Maya 50

Bitter 52

Bits & Pieces V: Commitment Issues

Creative Counseling 56

Laugh Now, Cry Later 58

Whole & Complete 61

Open Chest 64

Therapeutic Raincoats 69

The Butterfly Effect 73

Dragonfruit 75

For Colorful Girls 77

Meditation II: Be Gentle 81

Mattie’s Piece 83

Bits & Pieces VI: PMS

And Lost . . . 89

Today 93

Meditation III: Be Grateful 95

Colossus 97

Acknowledgments 100

About the Author 103

Bits & Pieces I

Menstruation

My relationship with my period starts with a curse. A curse that belonged to the first woman for feeding her husband a piece of fruit that God put there in the first place; for some serpent that God created in the first place to tell her to eat. When she did, her husband, who was the one God told not to eat it in the first place, wanted some. So, she gave it to him and now I have a period.

I used to ask God to turn me into a gift for my husband. I wanted to disassociate my femininity from the fall of man so I treated my love life like a hero’s quest. My mission: to save the men I loved from themselves. My period quickly became my kryptonite. When it came, my partner disappeared for three to five days at a time. If I mentioned the word tampon, he’d cringe.

A Caribbean man once told me he could not eat my cooking while I was on my period