The Pen & Our People: Entry #4

Stanzas will simultaneously snatch your soul with its smooth statements in its stylish stature. Poetry has not expired from entertainment, and some think that this creative outlet is starting to resurface in mainstream media. In this week’s entry of the series “The Pen and Our People” I would like to highlight some of our own alumni and current students from Saint Xavier University who have a real way with words.

Ashley Newbill, a former student from Saint Xavier University studied in Bio / Pre-Health as a major with a music minor. Many knew for her service and chill vibes that lured the attention of anyone who was in her presence. However, many did not know her hidden talent of matching nouns and verbs to create a message only she could deliver.

Shealyn “Shea” Scott is a junior education major here at SXU. She is known by many for her artistic mindset and creative taste in entertainment. Not only does she write poetry, but she also makes words come to life by writing her own plays, like “She Kills Monsters” which will be premiered on April 14th-15th! Shea has a tasteful touch in writing that is impactful to the mind and refreshing to the soul.

Kyla “KT” “Ms. Mamas’ ‘ Turner is a senior strategic communications major who is heavily involved in the writing world. She has been a writer since the age of seven and performing her poetry for more than eight years; sharing stages in a multitude of cities and states. She is known for her hysterical haikus and fire figurative language that resonate with her audiences. 

Today, we have a treat for you that’s embedded in sweet, tasteful truths. In a month of cold Chicago climate, I bring to you a warm message. Below is a poem written by Ashley “Ka$h” Newbill titled “Lifetime Love.” 

 

Lifetime Love

By: Ashley “Ka$h” Newbill

I want that love that’s on the tv shows

That wake up in the morning to the sun making your face glow

And even if it’s cloudy or raining you still shine

And if the sun never rose again I’d be just fine 

Cause you are the sun, the moon, the stars my baby

Couldn’t imagine how life would be if I wasn’t yo lady

You know I’m independent so that’s bold of me to say

But for you I’ll be soft any day

My world been so different since you came

Stuck on you like Whitley on Dwayne

I love the way your hand fits perfectly into mine

On some avatar vibes, like how they tails intertwine 

Okay that’s a lil weird but I know you get it 

I love the way you love anything I’m interested in 

We move to our own beat like blues or funk

Our own Love Jones, left or right, I’ll dance with you to either one

You’re my best friend and can’t nothing get between us

I swear you love me more than Martin loved Gina

I love the way you look at me like I’m the only one 

As if I’m the only woman you ever wanna lay eyes on 

You’re my 3 stacks baby and I’m your Lady Badu

Whether it’s this lifetime or the next my only soulmate is you

You take me to climax without sex, like Tupac said Jada did

Our love is legendary, baby you’re my fresh prince

I know God made you just for me from the very same clay

And He continues to bring us together, every second of every day

I love the way you love me 

I pray you never leave

But if you ever do

Trust that I won’t be far behind you

Because behind every great man Is a woman even better 

And by your side is where I’ll stay, always and forever.

 

artist’s hands

Shealyn “Shea” Scott

 

sometimes my hands 

are artist’s hands

and i use them to sculpt 

a mirror image of myself.

i press into the clay

and carve out my cheeks

and hollow out my eyes

and seal every corner

with a caressing thumb.

i look at myself

as a creation.

i look at myself

and resist the urge 

to mold myself into better art—

something more moving,

something more striking,

something more valuable.

i throw myself into the kiln

and wait for the surface 

to bubble up and crack.

i throw myself into the glaze

and wait for the color to distort 

and leave me stained in the wrong hue.

i throw myself into the light

and parade my replication—

for prestige,

for adoration,

for retribution.

Look at her, I urge the crowd,

See her and be awed. 

I hide behind the sculpture

and pretend not to hear

the expert’s criticism 

or the stranger’s false praise.

I hide behind my sculpture

and pretend not to see

the unflattering curve of her neck

or the lack of symmetry in her face.

I hide behind myself

and pretend not to be

an imitation of something else

or just another piece in the exhibition.

 

sometimes my hands

are artist’s hands

and i use them to distort myself.

 

sometimes my hands 

are artist’s hands

and i use them to destroy.

 

sometimes my hands

are artist’s hands

and i use them to play God.

 

Pass on Pride

 

Where are the manners in man?

Calling for me like I sent you 

Lickin’ those crustified lips with lust that hasn’t even been secured yet

Talkin’ bout “Wassup witchu?”…..

 

Nothing sir.

 

Your pride is not appealing 

Pushin’ P paid the piper

Now you’re lonely

I can tell what you eat won’t sustain me

Feeding your ego left your soul hungry 

I would rather starve than to eat the toxins of your so called “fruit”

The labor was lacked, just like the nutrition in this relation before it could have began

The notion to your treason is the reason you are solo in this season

 

It’s a difference…

Between pimpin’ in privacy and being alone by default

Your verbs are at fault

Mistaking your misogyny for manhood 

Putting your foot down a little too hard has cracked the foundation of vulnerability

Flexing on your inner G knowing that was not our shared energy 

 

Childish 

A fetus in a man’s body

A true baby that’ll never be mines or give me a seed to carry 

Too eager to please–

Without an ounce of tease

The lack of attention given when clothes are on is sickening

But the moment that skin gets revealed

You mixed emotions with Trojan

I’m not even the chosen one, 

Just the one you chose in the moment

 

Later on you swimming in the seas of Jess, Jaz, Julie, and Jaylen

Hittin’ these Jazzybelles while floating in my well will send you to a place more lifeless than Hell

Ponder on that thought while you view  your clothes kissin’ concrete

Instant karma covered in tattoos 

And I will shade in the consequences of absence with the same needle you sowed deceit with 

A discrepancy, how snakes slither through this land on the daily

King Cobras on King Drive

Anacondas on Ashland

Poison plastered across Pulaski

And you think I am going to trust you easily?

Like mugs ain’t cheating on their wives and sides and got the audacity to memorize the lyrics to “Loyalty?”

Kendrick and Rihanna will not be impressed 

And neither am I

 

That’s why I’ll take a pass on your pride

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