Afrotica
by Tamara J. Madison
Eyes pried open, we
transcend their fears,
how desperately they,
always in need of a jesus,
seek to crucify us.
Conjuring, we
turn away, turn
inward, us wrap
one another:
backs braced,
titanium-laced,
tightly sealed,
force-fielded, so
uni-breathed, we
time/lie/knife/knee/bomb/badge/bullet-
proofed...
transcend their fears,
how desperately they,
always in need of a jesus,
seek to crucify us.
Conjuring, we
turn away, turn
inward, us wrap
one another:
backs braced,
titanium-laced,
tightly sealed,
force-fielded, so
uni-breathed, we
time/lie/knife/knee/bomb/badge/bullet-
proofed...
Poet, writer, editor, Tamara J. Madison, is the author of Threed, This Road Not Damascus (Trio House Press), Kentucky Curdled and Sistuh’s Sermon on the Mount (all poetry), and Collard County (fiction). Her writing is inspired by her ancestry and relations. She is the creator of BREAKDOWN: The Poet & The Poems, a YouTube conversation series promoting poets and their poetry as inspiration for everyday life. Tamara has also shared her poetry on the TEDx platform. She is a MFA graduate of New England College. She is currently the inaugural senior fellow of Anaphora Arts. She teaches English and Creative Writing in central Florida and is working on a new full-length poetry collection, multimedia presentation, and workshop inspired by research from her family’s archives.