Briana Victoria Leung is a 19-year-old Bay Area based queer non-binary Afro Asian Latinx storyteller and healer who has been writing, performing and competing in the local slam poetry scene for the last eight years.
My Hair
When I was born
I had a full head of hair
My mama told me
the Earth must’ve kissed me
on the top of my head
for everything grows out of me
I’d grow up to be the foundation of a garden
everyone would harvest flowers from
pick and pick at my baby’s breath
they’d always leave behind the weeds
My hair jumped from slave ships
anchored herself to the sea floor
She shall not be moved
Doesn’t conform to chains or hair ties
She is stubborn
The only style she seems to wear effortlessly is
Emancipation
My hair goes to church on sundays
only allowing hands covered in beeswax and molasses to bless her
with tradition that don’t die
My hair clasps her hands in prayer
leans her neck back
says amen
sings gospel like nobody’s listening
My hair sings volumes so loud she leads the choir
My hair can cook
She sings corazón espinado when she makes pozole
Always adds too much cayenne pepper
even though she says there’s no such thing
On Christmas she folds herself into tamales
so her children have something to unwrap
She is a mixture of blood, flour and nostalgia
always tells stories at the dinner table
She grows naranjas with a citrus orange streaks and mango highlights
weaving between colors
Each strand is a story that refused to be erased
