Emerie Enters Her Grandmother's Garden
inspired by Alice Walker's In Search Of Our Mothers' Gardens*
A seed of sage
within my mother's
womb
I attune
to a sacrament
of Psalms
poking praise
into cinnamon skin
moving to music
not yet written*
amid my Great-
Great Grandmother's
Homegoing.
I resound
in twice told memories
of flowered vegetable
gardens whittled
from cracked earth
windswept hands
implanting turnips
to tulips
the southern soul
of a Cherokee-
Black blossom
bloomed
beyond the antebellum
aisle of Jim Crow.
Indigo engraved
in her palms
refusing to shrivel
like A Raisin
in the Sun.
I reap the harvest
of hallow dreams.
Listen to Frederick read his poem:
Sinkholemag.com is a labor of love both for its editors and its contributors. We hope you’ll consider supporting their hard work by pledging a dollar or two a month on Patreon. Those who pledge two or more dollars get a little extra perk: access to our private Facebook group, where you can interact with editors and writers as they share story ideas and previews of their work.
