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"Rejection Therapy" by Takier George



Author’s Note: Below is an excerpt from “Rejection Therapy” by Takier George, a hybrid collection of narrative poetry/fiction.


Memories From My Father’s Ashes

I think if I didn’t see it less people would expect me to talk about it

I was never a daddy’s girl

And I had never seen him so tall before

As he hung, he was so close to the sky

So close to God

So far from me that all I could do was stare.

When Mama got home, she screamed for him

Then, she was screaming at me

I thought you only spoke so loudly

When trying to call someone

In another room

But there we were,

All together

I yelled

“STOP!”

And she did

The room was still

As still as it was before she entered

As still as the rope daddy held on to

I was too young then to mourn a lost goodbye

But now, I wonder why he never held me as close as he held the sky



From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

Or at least no one could hear me

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

I wasn’t Emori, I was “that girl who can’t talk”

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

Well, I didn’t speak to people I didn’t know. Mama heard me

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

But I watched. I watched the way people lived. I knew enough about death

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

At first, they tried to make me, but eventually they gave up

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

Daddy took my tongue with him and refused to give it back

From the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak

And I didn’t pray to a God who wouldn’t hear me

I think Daddy took more of me with him than just my tongue

Either way, from the ages of 10 to 12, I didn’t speak



If My Mother’s I Love You Was a Prayer

On Sundays, she’d pray

She found his sin washable

Loved him despite it

You cannot save everyone

Especially men like him


She spoke in scriptures

Led his finger down the page

Sanctified his heart

Her i love you was a prayer

That still sits in his dresser


His hands never met

In prayer, she’d reach out instead

Reaching up to God

Her last resort was gospel

His last resort was heaven




Takier George is a spoken word artist from the DMV area. George is a full-time student at Howard University majoring in English (with a concentration in creative writing) and a minor in tv and film production. From 2018 to 2020, George was a member of the D.C. Youth Slam Team. In 2019, George and her team members performed at Brave New Voices, the largest international teen poetry slam competition in Las Vegas. George has also performed at venues like the Arlington Country Blues Festival, the Library of Congress, and The Kennedy Center. In 2020 and 2021, George was published in Sterling Notes Literary Journal. She is currently working on her first chapbook.

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