Ayo ~Maya-Gawonii Shabazz-Saleh

Every word he speaks to me is a poem, 

Igniting sparks in my eyes. 

a feverish flush spread across my cheeks, 

I do not feel butterflies. 

but rather, flames that tickle my feet and make my breath hitch, caught in the blaze. I'm willing to die here, engulfed in my lover's words, 

turning me into soft ash.

~~

Maya-Gawonii Shabazz-Saleh is a Black, Egyptian, and Indigenous writer whose stories live where love and imagination meet. She writes to compost empire, tend to grief, and root us in the futures we deserve; whether through poetry, essays, or magical tales of connection and return.

She lives on Ohlone land, known as Oakland, California, where she tends to her writing, her community, and the small everyday magics that keep love alive.