i was born beneath the rocks of a single-minded destiny: cutting cords.
sharpened by the first hominins to loosen them from their cages,
with no mind to the wrath beset, on mnemonic devices or lexical anchors,
or the amnesia befallen on transient states, belonging to history’s annals.
i was configured beneath the waves, with patterns of curls and divergences,
for disfiguring fjords and highlands, for turbulently separating archipelagos.
lamentations are forgotten by the riverbed, rested as recanted, condolences
to my estranged siblings. generational recessions of pride trapped in our throats.
to be untangled from pain, to be freed from freedom,
striking entries from an endless list of somewheres.
This is a piece I originally submitted when I applied to the Kundiman Poetry Retreat earlier this year. Since that fell through, I went ahead and published it on my Substack, and now I’m sharing it here to celebrate the launch of !writing 🥳 Looking forward to seeing more work from others as this community grows!
I love the wealth of ideas that you weave so densely into the text here! The primordial imagery is really focused and excellent. “curls and divergences … disfiguring fjords and highland … separating archipelagos … lamentations …” is an especially fantastic run. From humble origins to overwhelming hegemony, I sense that our frontal lobes have not evolved in step with humanity’s expansion. What a pity that we long for authenticity that is perhaps not quite accessible to us! Thank you for sharing!