Long Lost
I
wish I could translate
tell
you the story
When I hear drums
it moves
sways. jerks. jumps.
My hair knows it
entangled tendrils
curls and naps.
It’s
no stranger to the french braids
move through my scalp
It’s no stranger either to the pressing comb
The flat iron.
my hair holds the a-historicization of a people.
I wish I could tell you their story.
translate it.
But I don’t know it.
Was never told it.
I am an orphan of africa
step child of america
long lost great granddaughter of the indigenous
We are
orphans
long lost
translate it.
But I don’t know it.
Was never told it.
I am an orphan of africa
step child of america
long lost great granddaughter of the indigenous
We are
orphans
long lost
step
children
step child
step chile!
keep movin’
you aint got no bizness heah
don’t make me haveta learn you somethin’
please, papa.
step child
step chile!
keep movin’
you aint got no bizness heah
don’t make me haveta learn you somethin’
please, papa.
please do.
i dream of your untold stories
i dream of your untold stories
i see them in the veins of your eyes
i hear them in the cadence of grammy’s curses
her bitter-ness
your pat-ience
pat-ernal pat-riarchal
is wearing thin
not unlike your bones
learn me somethin’
please, papa
please do.
‘fore you are
long lost
i hear them in the cadence of grammy’s curses
her bitter-ness
your pat-ience
pat-ernal pat-riarchal
is wearing thin
not unlike your bones
learn me somethin’
please, papa
please do.
‘fore you are
long lost
we are
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