Reclaim by Traci Neal

by Traci Neal

Traci Neal is a neurodivergent spoken word artist listed on Poets & Writers residing in Columbia, SC. She is featured in The New York Times, Mahogany (Hallmark) writingcommunity, The Elevation Review, 1619 Speaks Anthology in 2023 (Sims Library of Poetry), and many other media publications. She is the 2023 Pushcart Prize Nominee for The Elevation Review, long listed for the inaugural 2023 African Diaspora Award with Kinsman Quarterly, the 2023 second-place poetry winner of the National Career Development Association, and the 2023 second-place poetry winner of the South Carolina Career Development Association. Neal uses her poetry platform to help bring awareness to nonprofits in need worldwide.

Reclaim

This body knows brands where brutality breeds.

A process plans to split my legs like

mayo marinated on a sandwich.

Futile frustrations dress my weary drops

with destruction wallowing from my body

until it has to participate.

Trust turns into becoming a man’s

militant trash, yet somehow tragedy transforms

my tender mixed-up puzzle pieces into poetry.

After my various parts splatter, I invade words

like the male who thought threading my body on

his needle made him a hero and not a villain.

As a woman, I reflect on my poetic heart

sewing verses into souls such as mine

with a desire for answers.

Strength is a string we must agree to

and straighten out our opposition in a knot.

Open a new wardrobe

to thrive in your appearance.

Refuse to reject yourself,

but race toward renewal.

To every woman,

reclaim the body birthing

out of your yoke needing

more than a bandaid.

Reclaim joy and join hands

in the justice to choose.

Reclaim your voice

spoken by an internal

microphone shouting

louder than what society

shames you for.

Reclaim your identity.

You are a worthy treasure.