Tara Betts
Ms. Pac-Man Insists:
No Sweating in High Heels
Some women cannot be cornered
when choices are run, bite, or die.
So many women chased by ghosts
housed by a central cell rooted
in every scenario. Only occasional
fruit bounces its bright sugar past
too quickly. Only the most basic
simple calories sustain repetitive
tasks, because women do tedium
well, but they cannot gain weight.
Despite the stalking and killing her
kind, or consumption that shrinks
others like her to fleeting blip, she
applies eye shadow and lipstick,
fixes a bow like a rose on her head,
runs like hell behind walls through
sharp turns and tunnels, while not
sweating and wearing high heels.
No Sweating in High Heels
Some women cannot be cornered
when choices are run, bite, or die.
So many women chased by ghosts
housed by a central cell rooted
in every scenario. Only occasional
fruit bounces its bright sugar past
too quickly. Only the most basic
simple calories sustain repetitive
tasks, because women do tedium
well, but they cannot gain weight.
Despite the stalking and killing her
kind, or consumption that shrinks
others like her to fleeting blip, she
applies eye shadow and lipstick,
fixes a bow like a rose on her head,
runs like hell behind walls through
sharp turns and tunnels, while not
sweating and wearing high heels.
Storm Writes to Black Panther
T’Challa,
Remember when we fought our way
out of Hades together? This is what
those who truly love spend a lifetime
doing and we escaped. We saved
each other, and our embraces held
everything from the continent
that I missed. We were not mutants
or black or African, but distillation
of spirits. You could invent anything,
carry the legacy of generations borne
by your village, and fight the strongest
of the pantheon while some would have
us occupy the smallest storylines.
Forgetting has never been our option.
We carry our powers and our histories--
a colorline of veils, a rucksack without acres.
Tell me that wasn’t enough to call us future.
T’Challa,
Remember when we fought our way
out of Hades together? This is what
those who truly love spend a lifetime
doing and we escaped. We saved
each other, and our embraces held
everything from the continent
that I missed. We were not mutants
or black or African, but distillation
of spirits. You could invent anything,
carry the legacy of generations borne
by your village, and fight the strongest
of the pantheon while some would have
us occupy the smallest storylines.
Forgetting has never been our option.
We carry our powers and our histories--
a colorline of veils, a rucksack without acres.
Tell me that wasn’t enough to call us future.
Tara Betts is the author of Arc & Hue and the chapbook/libretto THE GREATEST!: An Homage to Muhammad Ali. Tara's writing has appeared in POETRY, Gathering Ground, Bum Rush the Page, both Spoken Word Revolution anthologies, The Break Beat Poets, Drawn to Marvel: Poems from the Comic Books, Near Kin: A Collection of Words and Art Inspired by Octavia Estelle Butler, Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, and GHOST FISHING: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. In addition to appearing on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam" and Jessica Care Moore's "SPOKEN", Tara Betts holds a Ph.D. from Binghamton University and an MFA from New England College."Ms. Pac-Man Insists" will appear in PAC'N HEAT, an anthology of poems about Ms. Pac-Man.