Somebody Almost Walked Off Wid Alla My Stuff

Somebody Almost Walked Off Wid Alla My Stuff

For coloured girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf

Ntozake Shange

[A favorite that I had the honor of performing in college.]

 

somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff 
not my poems or a dance i gave up in the street
 but somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff

like a kleptomaniac workin hard & forgettin while stealin
 this is mine

this aint your stuff

now why don’t you put me back & let me hang out in my own self

somebody almost walked off wit alla my stuff 
& didn’t care enuf to send a note home sayin 
i was late for my solo conversation
 or two sizes to small for my own tacky skirts

what can anybody do wit somethin of no value on
a open market

did you getta dime for my things

hey man 

where are you goin wid alla my stuff

to ohh & ahh aboutt

daddy

i gotta mainline number 
from my own shit

now wontcha put me back

& let
 me play this duet

wit silver ring in my nose

honest to god

somebody almost run off wit alla my stuff

& i didnt bring anythin but the kick & sway of it 
the perfect ass for my man & none of it is theirs 
this is mine 

ntozake ‘her own things’ 

that’s my name
 now give me my stuff

i see ya hidin my laugh

& how i
s it wif my legs open sometimes

to give me 
some sunlight

& there goes my love my toes my chewed 
up finger nails

niggah

wif the curls in yr hair

mr. louisiana hot link

i want my stuff back

my rhytums & my voice 

open my mouth 

& let me talk ya 
outta 

throwin my shit in the sewar 

this is some delicate 
leg & whimsical kiss 

i gotta have to give to my choice

without you runnin off wit alla my shit

now you cant have me less i give me away 

& i waz 
doin all that

til ya run off on a good thing

who is this you left me wit

some simple bitch 
widda bad attitude

i wants my things

i want my arm wit the hot iron scar 

& my leg wit the
 flea bite 

i want my calloused feet & quik language back
in my mouth

fried plantains 

pineapple pear juice 

sun-ra & joseph & jules 

i want my own things 

how i lived them


& give me my memories 

how i waz when i waz there

you cant have them or do nothin wit them

stealin my shit from me 

don’t make it yours 

makes it stolen

somebody almost run off wit alla my stuff 

& i waz standin
 there 

lookin at myself 

the whole time 
& it waznt a spirit took my stuff

waz a man whose 
ego walked round like Rodan’s shadow 

waz a man faster
n my innocence

waz a lover 

i made too much 
room for 

almost run off wit alla my stuff

& i didnt know i’d give it up so quick 

& the one runnin wit it

don’t know he got it 

& i’m shoutin this is mine 

& he dont 
know he got it 

my stuff is the anonymous ripped off treasure
 of the year

did you know somebody almost got away wit me

me in a plastic bag under their arm 

me 
danglin on a string of personal carelessness 

i’m spattered wit
 mud & city rain 

& no i didnt get a chance to take a douche

hey man 

this is not your perogative 

i gotta have me in my
 pocket 

to get round like a good woman should 

& make the poem
in the pot or the chicken in the dance

what i got to do

i gotta get my stuff to do it to

why dont ya find yr own things

& leave this package 
of me for my destiny

what ya got to get from me

i’ll give it to ya 

yeah 

i’ll give it to ya

round 5:00 in the winter 

when the sky is blue-red

& Dew City is gettin pressed 

if it’s really my stuff

ya gotta give it to me 

if ya really want it 

i’m 
the only one 

can handle it