Maybe My Heart Is Wintering in North Africa, and: The Water

Abstract

Maybe My Heart Is Wintering in North Africa, and: The Water Anastacia-Reneé (bio) Maybe My Heart Is Wintering in North Africa who of us as pigeons is ever praised as turtledovesfor her flying // when the wind breaks down& becomes a huff of humidityfor her feeding // on the seeds of the mother instead of treesfor her call / pleasant & low (transformative) i am a loud woman // a mouth made of bubble wrapi have always known my strut could appear robotic mysevere focus on staying grounded often comes off as a shufflei walk through the world // with glass in my feet (shattered) i do not know how i became a second-class citizen whenseveral white men have purple-heart-ed me (a casualty of war)have touched me with so many messages of theirs to sendfrom my pigeon post // i am a loud woman who often sayskeep me posted // could this be my pidgin tongue speaking (tethered) // my bubble wrap mouth a tangled nest of co-coooo // [End Page 107] The Water the water communeswith cosmic afterbirth& reminisces aboutthe ancestors (as gyres)she has knowna circulating baptismwith a single stinging question: what kind of shell am iwhat kind of shell am iwhat kind of shell am i who can knowwhen it's timeto swimwho can knowwhen just standingup relieves gaspingfor air to be a scuba diveris about collectingyour voice boxbeneath a seashellabout snorkelingbad dreams & watchingthem float to be a whale youhave to know yourfrequency is so weirdthey will capture you [End Page 108] just to see if they canweird it (back at you) spills yourselfon yourself say there has been a drowning to be the waterwhat strength itmust take—buoyantflow pushing againstthe lips of the mothergloss & gurgle for allto see the water-pussy tellsherself stop wettingup the creaturesstop droppingfossils in the napeof another's neck what kind of shell am iwhat kind of shell am iwhat kind of shell am i & where (oh) wheredo i belong [End Page 109] Anastacia-Reneé Anastacia-Reneé is a writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, TEDx speaker, and podcaster. She is the author of (v.) (Black Ocean) and Forget It (Black Radish) as well as Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere and Side Notes from the Archivist, forthcoming from Amistad (an imprint of HarperCollins). Reneé was selected by nbc News as part of the list of "Queer Artists of Color Dominate 2021's Must See LGBTQ Art Shows." She was former Seattle Civic Poet (2017–2019), Hugo House Poet-in-Residence (2015–2017), and Arc Artist Fellow (2020). Her work has been published widely. Copyright © 2022 University of Nebraska Press