CONTENT WARNING! one poem includes ‘poop’ talk, the other is a tad erotic. (You’re welcome.)
August 26
TMI
we’re standing in a forest
three women: two young
one me, aged in the middle
I have to go to the bathroom.
nature’s toilet surrounds me.
earlier someone said:
TMI means tell me immediately
I laughed from my underbelly.
well in that case…
we mention the unmentionables
how sweaty we are ‘down there’
menstrual cycles, how boys
don’t move things when they’re
looking. I have wipes, a young
one says, handing them to me
when I announce I can’t hold
my poop inside any longer.
I find a spot in a bowl of
light, baby ferns surrounding
treebases. I watch the leaves
shimmer as I squat, release
relief. In a forest, standing
with women, there is no such
thing as too much information.
tell me immediately, the forest shrieks
so we do. we tell her everything.
August 27
Horny haiku
strawberry scented
slick-slide penetration
early morning do
We’ve got one more day of filming tomorrow… Pages ‘wrapped’ this evening…She’s a star! Wallace has is film set debut tomorrow. Currently, they are both sound asleep. I’m close to that… It’s so odd to open the laptop and write. I kinda love it. The way making a movie takes all of my energy. It’s really extraordinary witnessing my entire family working together on this big, fat creative dream. Making movies is parallel living… the same a hospital is or a funeral home… time feels entirely different. Can’t reflect much yet… still more to go tomorrow. Hope y’all are living your dreams too. Much love.
VANESSA SHIELDS 