TEA SCARS ..........................................................................................................................................................MARIAH GHANT

Tea Scars

Poem by Mariah Ghant

Little girl who resembles me with your bright, plastic bow barrettes knocking too close to your eyes and matching striped shirt with loose leggings; I want to warn you. One day, when the world feels crisp and smooth like the perfect

pb&j, you’ll find a crushed box thrown away in the cobweb avenues of your mind, left alone with the bow ripped off and a drab, desolate card scribbled with “you’re welcome.” When you move to open it, all those sour sneers and cruel

fingers pointing to tease your dripping nappy hair after being pulled out of the pool—all that and more—will sink into the gaping place between your shoulders. You will know this is no normal gift. Feel that mauve dread moving in, the same

shade of mom’s nightgown. She will wear it like a cape to lull you out of this broken nightmare. Listen to her. She will teach you to morph that gift-wrapped burden into a medallion. Wear it with jubilance. And when she gives you

a mantra for your mahogany beauty, burn it onto the roof of your mouth like hot tea. It will prove powerful against these curses when people move you to feel any less golden-gilded than you will grow to be.

Mariah Ghant (she/her) is a Black woman artist based out of Philly. An alumnus of Vassar College, she studied Drama and English focusing on Acting and Poetry Writing. Mariah’s work has been featured in three print publications with Z Publishing, as well as online with Distance Yearning, Lucky Jefferson, MixedMag, and Passengers Journal. Forever fantasizing on the phenomenal, Mariah’s writing explores relationships, identity, and the cosmos. Visit her poetry Instagram @mariah.g.poetry or check out her artist website, mariahghant.com.