On the Ocean/Yemaya
Great Great Grandmother
They’re calling me
the
colors
of
the
ocean
change
depending
on
the
depth
but
the ocean is
still the ocean
Great Great Grandmother
They’re calling me
My dancestors are
To come home
They welcome me with open arms and the ever-lingering sounds of drum beats
With tender smiles and anxious hands
With the sweet smell of okra and fufu, the natural smells of earth engraved into every ounce of their perfect, perfect bodies
So do I do
I’m led by the masquerade so tall and colorful and vibrant
Masked ancestor
Eggun
Across the waters
Perfect, perfect bodies
For days we travel
His fringe, her fringe, just escaping ruin, soaked and blended with seaweed
Her DNA, his DNA melting into the waves
My toes wrinkled
But when we arrive, I know I am finally home
The drum beats I heard in my dreams were not from the radio
The people I saw were not my neighbors
But my ancestors calling me home
I’m glad I came
The masquerade told me I’d be happy
Truth
in
Liberation
This creature, this figure, this warrior so brave to travel on her own, his own
Dare
Not
For this reason so seemingly frightening to the enemy
ushindi ni wetu
And that ivory
That ivory tusk
Atop its home so beautiful, perhaps even innocent
But in hands so ferocious, fear-invoking, frightening
But with the humblest and most honest of all intentions
With its mysterious patterning repeating, repeating
Giving breath to the dead with its sharpness
Light to the darkest cave with its beauty
The thing she and he so carved could stop anything
Anything
Except them
Until I saw it enclosed in the clearest of glass
In the corner, near the trees, a different climate, centuries later, but the same
They joy
I felt
I feel
When I remember that day, the day of our reunion
In my eyes, before my feet and hands
The masquerade reminded me of the promise
To bring me home
Take me to the water
masquerading waters
the
great
d
connec
the
Yemaya
is
the
guide
an
ances
tor
water
is
con
stantly
re
plenish
ed
y
is
orisha
ances
tor
of
mother
hood
too
water
it
of
remem
bers
Atlantic
ocean
be
comes
mother
and
child
the
in
are
move
ment
of
the
spirit
ances
tors
across
place
to
place
souls
our
and
is
soles
into
in
and
our
around
bodies
like
water
the
Louisi
ana
swamp
Diaspor
a
Goree
shore
Carib
bean
sea
the
colors
of
the
ocean
change
depending
on
the
depth
but
the ocean is
still the ocean
Who’s
in your ocean?
Where do your dancestors reside?
Where do your dancestors reside?