Ari Foster was born in Japan to parents serving in the United States Air Force. Raised in South Carolina, Ari has been writing poetry as a means of reflection and expression since early childhood. Currently, she serves as a social worker and licensed therapist, providing advocacy and therapy to children, adults, and families impacted by violence, abuse and trauma. Ari’s writing most frequently visits themes of coming of age, odes to southern imagery and black art, and reflections on motherhood and relationships. She tells stories of hurt and healing, including her own, and believes deeply in honoring the aesthetic of her nostalgia. As with her own healing, she finds beauty in the healing experiences of others, and continues to be inspired to creativity and storytelling that honors the unique journeys within and around her. Follow Ari on Instagram.
stale smoke and hot sauce
sometimes i was attracted to sadness
or rough things
but when i wasn’t
in grown folks’ conversation
i could stir up my own essence with
grown folks’ music
tingly feelings and love poems
thrust upon my naiveté
my role models had
glasses of beer mixed with contempt
a shared hurt bubbling over fried wings and
lips that cursed the fathers of
their children
blending their bitterness and
exchanging sorrow between bellies under a
glass table
steady choruses of Mary J. and other proverbs
a strange peace when they hum together,
candles burning with the cynicism of wives
the younger ones, a little older than me,
cooked for boys from school
had already learned how to feed the
male belly and his
body
watched American Pie and
circled smoke between their mouths
filling their lungs with familiar mood dust
numbing their skin as they
got tattoos in back rooms
pierced their bodies and
colored their lips and nails with
dark lacquers and cremes
rebellious pain, patterns of hormonal prerogative
for the love of abandoning rules and
boxes made for brown skin
curves cloaked in oversized jeans
minds drinking the melodic and
obscene from their boom box
yells from the kitchen
“turn it down!” just to
slowly turn it up again
though i often hid from smoke and
venom in the glass
there was something attractive about that darkness
watching a dignified grief wrap their military serving bodies in song
too enraptured to hear or
see their daughters mindfully straying
Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. TORCH has featured work by Colleen J. McElroy, Tayari Jones, Sharon Bridgforth, Crystal Wilkinson, Patricia Smith, Natasha Trethewey, Elizabeth Alexander, and others. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, and retreats.
Kommentare