Sandra Rivers-Gill
As We Cover Ourselves With Light
by Sandra Rivers-Gill
A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist
ISBN: 979-8-9873058-9-8
$14.00 ($4.00 US Shipping per order)
Sandra Rivers-Gill is a teaching artist. Her poetry is informed by family, community, and injustices, appearing in print journals, online and in anthologies while garnering numerous awards, including a nomination for Best of the Net. She is editor of Dopeless Hope Fiends, a book of poetry written by women in recovery. As We Cover Ourselves With Light is her first poetry collection. She resides in Toledo, Ohio, with her devoted husband, where she writes and is a caregiver, prayer, scrap art maker, poetry shopper, and when time allows, a performer in film or commercials.
At the Beauty Shop
We grow our roots,
weave our own invitations
to wear our classic style—
highlight our versatility.
We bloom in our faith
when no one is watching us
shrink in a salon of tears.
Our power is a preservative—
picked from the texture of beauty.
We know how to twist strands.
Our hands define our shape
by uncoiling thick braids
or pressing into a good flip.
We wear art forms
to perfect our flair.
Our shine is safeguarded
wrapped in our crowns
to accept the gift of ourselves.
