"Pivot" by Mel Sherrer

Pivot

I never wanted children.
I did not want to bear it,
until — in a single moment
I remember thinking,

I could have black children.
I could touch their hair like mine,
I could say this is beauty.
I could tend their brown shoulders,
I could say this is power.

Then suddenly, my body bent double 
and yearned as a woman’s might.

Mel Sherrer

Mel Sherrer (she/her) is a writer, editor, and educator. She is a proponent of women’s learning institutions, having received her B.F.A. from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, and her M.F.A. from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She is the Social Media Editor for South 85 Literary Journal, and she teaches private courses in Creative Writing and Performance Literature. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Headshot: Melissa Jacks Photography

Photo Credit: Staff