Introduction/From My Eye To The Sky
I declare that I am a powerful woman. This is the first time that I’ve ever recognized my divinity. From My Eye to the Sky is an homage to my mind, to the people out here doing the good work, and to liberation—liberation from capitalism, from white supremacy, and from all the “-isms” and “-phobias” that exist in this world. But liberation from something must mean a liberation to something.
Sankofa is, a word in Twi that means “go back and get it.” The Akan Sankofa bird reaches its long neck behind itself to reach an egg. Sankofa means to look toward the ancestors and retrieve the lessons they taught us, leaving behind their mistakes, and always improving our ways of living. My liberation gazes toward the sky, toward a free Africa, and unfettered, radical love.
Daring to be vulnerable, while writing, I placed a slice of myself into each poem. This is by far my most vulnerable work yet. So, I thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope that those who read From My Eye to the Sky are inspired to create, build community, and keep fighting the good fight.
From My Eye to the Sky
We shall be free
. . . one day
We will walk on water
. . . one day
We can sing our mothers’ songs
as she prepares collard for supper
Maybe lay on her lap and tell
her all our troubles
I’ll tell stories to my grandbabies [If I ever have children]
of a liberated Africa
and sip on mango nectar
Ichor from a cardboard carton
Dreams of Mutulu, Assata, Malcolm, and Huey
Dreams of finally livin’—I mean real livin’
Finally seeing what all this hoopla these birds call
flyin’
is all about
