Ciara Miller
WebsiteYears: 2009, 2010, 2012
Biography
Ciara Darnise Miller was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago. After becoming a Louder than a Bomb poetry slam champion, she performed at various high schools and colleges throughout the United States, including: Lane Tech, North Side Prep, Berkeley High, Chicago Academy of the Arts, MaryMount Manhattan College, Milliken University, and Sarah Lawrence College. She has also been a featured performer at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Her work is published in numerous Young Chicago Authors anthologies, and it has appeared in StarWall Paper, What I Know Is Me—Black Girls Write about Their World, The SLC Review, Dark Phrases, as well as her self-published chapbook Black Dorothy. She is a a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, a lyricist, playwright, and the Graduate Fellowship recipient at Indiana University where she is a poetry MFA and African American/African Diaspora MA candidate. She approaches writing by taking influences from any speck of truth she can find.Poem
Spilled Guts Never compare two eggs That both spill yolks That both crack ooze That move into your home Cold and waiting to be opened To be fingered feather soft Smashed against the wood Slithered seasoned stirred Spread into your pan Laid flat like an omelet Heart of red peppers Green bells screaming If one don’t stick You scramble her loose Scrape her onto a plate Wash that plate white & prepare for next day’s dish. The second egg always hears The splash of guts Wants to prove she’s tough Waiting to be banged (in that rotten way) When you’re bored and starved & she’s eager to know If she’s better than yesterday’s dish.