Author: Hayden Winston

Hayden Winston (né Hayden Winston Smith Jr.) is a Black, bisexual, novelist, poet, and activist. He holds a BSc in Criminal Justice and a Master of Legal Studies. His works draw on his experiences growing up in Los Angeles as a QPOC and the child of West Indian immigrants. He writes in English, French, and occasionally Kwéyòl. He resides in Northern California with his husband and their two cattle dog mixes.
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XII

  
Rolling plains,

Mind wide open,

Spring sky settled like an endless gray ocean.

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The Poll Waltz


“Freedom isn’t free,” they say,

We know,

Freedom was built on the backs of our ancestors,

With the tears of our foremothers,

The blood of our brothers.

Don’t tell us how to be,

Don’t tell us what to believe,

Don’t speak,

Just listen.

Fear that what little freedom we have suffered for will be stripped away.

Think, don’t just follow suit.

Photo: Alexis Micu
Art: Jasper Johns (Courtesy of The Broad Museum)

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City Asleep

 
City asleep

Falls, triumphs melting into dreams

Luna sheds her everlasting light

Bathing us in glory, bathing us in the night