Promises
after Jeffrey Daniel and Raymond Antrobus Shakeema Fisher was born a Sagittarius In the Year of the Metal Horse In a hospital in Harlem. Formerly of concrete Now of black dirt, clay & flood, Her imaginary friends have lost their accents. Today, she cracks eggs into holes at each corner Of her yard, two acres of land and a trailer Its roof being held up by her wits alone. Her doctor provides yearly bills of health. Her ass is striped. She is a tiger. Collectors have found her new number, Clutter her voicemail. Nothing is wrong But her potassium is probably low. Her favorite fruits are not apples. She will stop dancing if you perceive her. She is often asked if she is happy. She is aspirational. She has to wash the dishes, clean the fridge. Wishes She were her own man. She would take the trash out. She is a devoted homemaker. She does not cancel subscriptions on time. She demands refunds. She has promised herself a good life.
Audio: Shakeema Smalls reads “Promises”
Shakeema Smalls is a poet and developmental editor from Georgetown, South Carolina. Her work has been widely published in outlets such as Honey Literary, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Emergent Literary, Tidal Basin Review, Root Work Journal, Radius Lit, Free Black Space, Vinyl Poetry and Prose, Michigan Quarterly Review, Fruit Journal, and Foglifter, among others. She is an alum of the Tin House Workshop, the Obsidian Foundation, and VONA. She was a 2022 PEN Emerging Voices Fellow and served as the inaugural Markus D. Manley Poet-in-Residence at The Poetry Lab in 2024. She was recently named a 2025 SouthArts South Carolina Literary Fellow. Her debut poetry collection, Sweetwater Mass, is forthcoming from Blair Publisher in January 2027.