love in the dungeons (for Goree)

my father and your mother
are now no more

the sands of the land
the shells scattered on-shore, unsure
of the pebbles near the water’s mouth
and the rocks sucking salt from the sea
all saw them when they left

it was a sunny day in 1779
so said a footnote in the slave-house

my father and your mother
now no more
where lovers in two different rooms
separated, for he was below sixty kilograms
and her boobs, pillow soft. your mother

they had felt each other’s skin
through holes in the wall dividing their continents

they had hopes in the black yokes of their eyes
sunny hope
that the white man would one day
pass them through that fluid
through that gate of no-turning-back
that may reunite them in the sugarcane farms

my father would again hold your mother
when the masters are away

cuffs on their hands
chains on their legs
padlocks marrying both mouths

your mother would again see my father
making love to her
in her dream...

love in the dungeons (for Goree)

ehizogie iyeomoan