Moon Mami Writes

it's Tuesday and sometimes eyes unrested forget to really see the sun shines. For, everything seems really dark in this place. Right now, bills pile up to greet you, unopened envelopes that might as well be see thru, threatening menaces that jedi-mind trick you into believing that this is you-- this depressed, broke, debt-owing, non-smiling tired person that got only two dollars for the week. Don't even sweat it. You just need sleep. Let your mind wrap around some solutions. Let your spirit unload this heavy coat of overwhelming shame. Let sleep remind you of your purpose and try to remember why you're here, why you came. So, when Tuesday disappears and brings back Wednesday, you'll be clean. Washed anew. And, you'll look up, and they'll be the sun shining brightly waiting for you

I’ve been reading since I was three years-old. Then, my hands were barely big enough to hold a hard-cover illustrated storybook, my lap too small to hold the stacks of books I loved to pull from the shelves at the library. But, my love affair with words was immediate and addictive. Inquisitive (read: nosy) from birth, it seemed, learning to read was my passage-way into constantly unfolding stories and undiscovered worlds. During pre-teen years, my reading addiction led me to create a new type of insubordination that parenting manuals hadn’t prepare my mom for; she routinely had to reprimand me for neglecting my household chores in pursuit of finishing a new book I had checked out from the Book Mobile. So, when I became a new fan of Judy Blume’s young adult books, Mom’s job as disciplinarian became all the harder. For, my voracious appetite for books seemed only heightened when Judy Blume’s books came into my life. While Deenie, Tiger’s Eyes and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing were lov...

NOTE: I have no idea if this is a short story in the making or a novel...the characters just decided to appear last night...so we'll see. Feedback welcome! ----------- The acrid smell burned her nostrils for only a mere moment before she tasted the sour after-taste of her lunch churn from her belly to her throat. Anell stood up and fled towards the bathroom, accidentally knocking her pencil to the floor and blindly stomping on and stumbling over the shoes of the students whose feet blocked her pathway to the door.  She made it into the hallway before her teacher Mr. Carson even noticed the door had opened. Her vomit splashed onto the floor outside of the bathroom seconds later, abruptly halting her sprint to an empty stall. As chunks of orange chicken and rice floated sadly over a puddle of clear throw-up,  Anell began to cough uncontrollably, feeling the urge to continue vomiting overtake her body. The school’s janitor, Picard, ran towards her, a white towel slung over hi...

A Word on the Journey Alighting from ashes rose the Phoenix, but no one ever speaks of her life as ground soot No one ever mentions her moment as embers, dimly lit and exhausted, barely breathing Barely warm Yet, in her nothingness, she was everything Gathered in the crevices of the earth that bore of her, in the air that gave her breath, she was in everything A part of creation, soundlessly   Gaining momentum, gathering her parts to become whole by Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman

Big things are planned for 2011. Am I planning big things for 2011? Now, that is the question. I typically make end-of-the-year lists that detail what my highlights from the year were and reflecting on what worked and what didn't, but, admittedly, other than vague goals of what I want to have in the coming year, I don't typically do as much comprehensive pre-planning before the year starts. Yet, thankfully, most times, big things-- good, big things, usually tend to happen. I attribute it all to my perfect awareness of synchronicity. Everything happens for a reason. You just have to pay attention to what that reason may be. For instance, this past year, I became a writer for SoulBounce.com, one of my more popular gigs as a writer since I started writing online in 2006. Writing for SoulBounce was totally random. I mean, I heard about the writing opportunity one week in January, applied and was hired the next week. I didn't pre-plan it, but it worked out. The synchro...

So two days ago I found out that singer Teena Marie died and my world was just devastated. I think I may be more harshly affected by her passing then when MJ died, mainly because she inspired me so much as an artist. She was a songwriter, an incredible vocalist and was a very strong woman on top of all of that. There are so many things she accomplished that I don't even think people associate with her. She is the recording artist who brought to creation the law that record companies can't bind an artist by contract and not put out any of their music after she sued Motown when she was on their label early in her career. Of course, she is one of the only white women to have longevity as an R & B and soul singer and to be so fully embraced culturally. I think that is significant given how race and class obsessed we are as a culture. Teena Marie snagged me as a fan as early as I can remember. I remember being 6 years-old and grooving to her duets with Rick James and listen...

the MJ glove that comes with the Michael Jackson Experience Wii game A remarkable thing happened. I managed to have an incredible Christmas holiday with my sister, daughter and her dad despite the craziness going on in our world right now. To even begin with the craziness, I would have to start with before Christmas. On Thursday, may great-aunt died. My mother got the news in the  harshest way possible-- via voicemail in a message that said "Kaye, I'm calling to tell you your Auntie is dead." No lie. While the news was shared in such a harsh manner, the details of her death-- finding out she had cancer and no one in the family had shared that with us prior to her passing, was even worse. Finding the meaning in it all has been my challenge ever since. But the Christmas spirit was not to be thwarted on our house. My spouse has the Christmas spirit all up, through and around him. He is Christmas spirit incarnate. While typically laid-back and unassuming, my partn...