Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome poet Sarita Smith from Georgia, USA with two poems exposing the abuse women, particularly black women, experience at the hands of the patriarchy–both in the church community and from their spouses and significant others. “Lay Up, Stay Up” is delivered in every day vernacular and the edgy energy of slam poetry jumps off the page to create a portrait of a woman justifying her boyfriend’s abusive behavior. “What other options are for me?/ When he’s all I’ve known since girlhood/ And taught me everything I know/ Like how to throw it back/ And how to stay at the back/ Of the line/ Of progress/ Of my own objectives and interests/ He’s no good/ But I love him/ I mean I’m attached to him/ I mean I’m used to him/ I mean I’m attracted to him/ I mean I used to be…” The internalization of oppression is as destructive as the threat of violence which could appear at any moment, but the desire to belong is stronger than either. “Religious Refugees” is more formal in language, but no less intense. Sarita explores the terror of mother and child leaving an abusive father and the way the Bible is employed to hurt them and justify hurting them. “With Bible verses about obedient wives,/ Bludgeoned across our heads,/ About how evil it was to leave,/ When the pain becomes too much.” This is the cruelest side of belonging, the conformity that snuffs out lives before they get started or turns women into walking shells. It is unfortunate that religion, which can be such a support to the downtrodden, can also be twisted into a weapon. Sarita is bold and vulnerable, her poetry intelligent and visceral. This a clear poetic voice speaking from the intersection of blackness and femininity, advocating for change in communities and relationships.
Read Sarita’s poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Belonging” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. You don’t want to miss this emerging voice. She will also be joining us in our upcoming “Identity” issue in 2025.
Sarita Smith is an Atlanta-based burgeoning writer and poet who grew up in the rural town of Madison, Georgia. A graduate of Spelman College, her writing often explores the emotions of Black women’s personal and political lives. Her work has been featured in From Spelmanites to You by Stephanie Deltor, UNITE, Inc.’s quarterly publication UNITE Notes, and the 13th Edition of Otherwise Engaged: A Literature and Arts Journal. She has also been selected for the 2024-2025 PAX Fellowship-Poetry Cohort.