I began to babble / any words I could think of // in four different languages, / placing them in the most chaotic order / possible, in order // not to say these words: / The black side of my family / owned slaves.
—from “Félicité” by Robin Coste Lewis
through the umbilical cord
passed
not a rope, not luck—
something hardier
shaped like a skull
studded with arrowhead teeth.
shaped like a skull
studded with arrowhead teeth.
the alligator is known for its
death roll, a dance in which
it turns the world on its head
in order to break off the piece
it wants.
death roll, a dance in which
it turns the world on its head
in order to break off the piece
it wants.
there is a video of an alligator eating its dead
compatriot this way, the bloated body
bobbing in its living cousin’s death grip;
compatriot this way, the bloated body
bobbing in its living cousin’s death grip;
there were slaves in our family,
some related and some not.
money gotten by blood
tends to stay in the blood,
which has no race;
and race is what is run,
equals teams divvied up
according to birthplace and
legal degree of freedom.
some related and some not.
money gotten by blood
tends to stay in the blood,
which has no race;
and race is what is run,
equals teams divvied up
according to birthplace and
legal degree of freedom.
