Friday Feature: Schyler Butler
- Jae Nichelle
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Schyler Butler is the author of Phantom Hue (forthcoming from CavanKerry Press, 2027). A recipient of funding from the Ohio Arts Council and the Greater Columbus Arts Council, her work appears in Obsidian, African American Review, Transition, swamp pink, and elsewhere. She is currently an MFA candidate at The Ohio State University and lives in Columbus, OH.
Girl Says a Prayer
“…my hero felt so bad about himself once
that he lit himself on fire…” –Dave Chappelle
-
So I toss salt over my shoulder.
I ask for proof and am given a mirror.
I pour the brown but don’t know who for,
light a candle and bless the horn-hiding lost
of the earth, feed them leftover cake
and wonder why these skin splotches come.
I send my spit to a foreign lab
and trust they know how to read me.
--
I ask Amma for clues, and She sends
hungry dogs who know where to bite.
I talk all day about the beginning
and whose people were first,
but I wasn’t there.
When She allows confusion,
I am not thankful
until, with practiced faith
no longer fragmented,
I choose to forgive Her.
---
Death would have me bitter for eternity.
Death wants me so dehydrated
I choose to drink His piss
and sing a lullaby of doubt.
----
When I shut my eyes, I am a child
sitting at Grandmother’s feet.
Our fingers weave sustenance from threads.
She scatters false indigo on my shoulders.
She reads the sticks left by our dead.
She lights a candle and holds my chin,
says I will tell a different story,
one where I consume the fire.
###
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. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, retreats, and more.