Content warning:
can an island have ptsd?
maybe then, every earthquake
is just the land remembering
its tragedies
the hurricanes are the aftermath
of failed coping mechanisms
these harsh winds
are hyperventilations
and the earth is trying
to rid itself of the toxins
of past memories
with a tornado or two
she speaks to me between the screaming tells me her name
and that her birth date precedes humanity
she remembers the first people who called her home called her mother
traveled between her sisters on canoes that could hold a hundred of her children
asks me about my ancestors
and i am too embarrassed to admit that i have not left them an altar
i do not follow their traditions and i want to call her mother
i want so badly to call her by her name
but she does not
belong to me
and upon hearing these thoughts unspoken
she reaches a hand for the single tear that meets her palm
places it on a mango tree attached to her back and produces fruit
‘you were brought to me in slavery
taken from me by capital but you will always
always be a child of mine’
and i weep
in the arms
of the mother
i once abandoned
for she
does not belong
to me
but i
will always
belong to
her