While you were outside
We were writing couplets
Then ballads that wind around your waist
And unfurl in the base of the gut
And rise to the heart where they plant themselves
To move a nation
Black faces forward
From While You Were Outside in Loyal Lady
Loyal Lady
Loyal Lady is a journey through the complexity and contradictions of the elements of femininity and masculinity, how they interplay with each other, and ultimately how they need each other. Through verse that weaves together commentary on religion, gender roles, sexuality, and purity, Loyal Lady picks apart our cultural narratives around relationships and identity. It asks hard questions about the sometimes arbitrary nature of what makes up what we know as femininity and masculinity as they are informed by race, the Church, intergenerational trauma, and the politics of romance. By the end, poet Nichole Williams arrives at a recognition of what true love is in context of ourselves, each other, and God.
