Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Dorothea Smartt

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

Here I lie. A hollow
Samboo. Filled with your tears
 
and regrets. The tick in the eye
of Lancaster pride. The stutter,
 
the pause, the dry cough, shifting
eyes that cannot meet a Black man’s
 
gaze. Questions, questions from either
side that foul us for answers. The how
 
and the why ultimately defeating us
with shame, with anger, with the defensive
 
voices of those who lived and enjoyed
the benefits, who did not question too
 
deeply the source that enriched
all of Lancaster life.
 
Who will heal and elevate to light
the souls of your ancestors if
 
you refuse to remember? If you
cover their incarnations with half-truths?
 
Grocer? You were a Slave Trader!
And everything has its price,
 
and denial is only debt
with interest to be paid.
Close

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

Here I lie. A hollow
Samboo. Filled with your tears
 
and regrets. The tick in the eye
of Lancaster pride. The stutter,
 
the pause, the dry cough, shifting
eyes that cannot meet a Black man’s
 
gaze. Questions, questions from either
side that foul us for answers. The how
 
and the why ultimately defeating us
with shame, with anger, with the defensive
 
voices of those who lived and enjoyed
the benefits, who did not question too
 
deeply the source that enriched
all of Lancaster life.
 
Who will heal and elevate to light
the souls of your ancestors if
 
you refuse to remember? If you
cover their incarnations with half-truths?
 
Grocer? You were a Slave Trader!
And everything has its price,
 
and denial is only debt
with interest to be paid.

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère