Sweet Home
by Rashida James-Saadiya
In Louisiana on Feb. 1, 1996, a group of churches within six miles, Cypress Grove Baptist, St. Paul's Free Baptist, Thomas Chapel Benevolent Society in East Baton Rouge, and Sweet Home Baptist in Baker were each set on fire on the 36th anniversary of the Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in.
What I remember
ember resting on hands
blood
hidden in the pleats of my dress
bones scattered beneath our feet
prayers hanging off lips
curved over
like innocence
pushed against the hurt
bodies bent and rocking,
a hymn
full of broken pieces
with no place to go
the spirits
we walk on
won’t lay down
they want glory
or something to wash
the stench away
How does it feel ?
to be alive and unwanted
like an eruption of skin
a knife born into your heart
a thousand screams
clutching the sky
the words are caught in my throat
all we have is burning
red, blazing and bright
a sign the living can read
heat that will melt your mouth
crawl up your spine
remind you of
night riders,
gripping kerosene
enough matches
to take your breath away
this story is made of bones
aching for tomorrow
what waits behind the trees
across the old tracks
history coming to set your day on fire
Rashida James-Saadiya is a writer, visual artist and cultural educator. Her work addresses otherness, aesthetics and the complexities of womanhood in America. In addition, she is a founding member and coeditor of Voyages, a quarterly online journal exploring complexities of Africana Arts and Culture, through progressive literature, afro futurism and creative thinking.
What I remember
ember resting on hands
blood
hidden in the pleats of my dress
bones scattered beneath our feet
prayers hanging off lips
curved over
like innocence
pushed against the hurt
bodies bent and rocking,
a hymn
full of broken pieces
with no place to go
the spirits
we walk on
won’t lay down
they want glory
or something to wash
the stench away
How does it feel ?
to be alive and unwanted
like an eruption of skin
a knife born into your heart
a thousand screams
clutching the sky
the words are caught in my throat
all we have is burning
red, blazing and bright
a sign the living can read
heat that will melt your mouth
crawl up your spine
remind you of
night riders,
gripping kerosene
enough matches
to take your breath away
this story is made of bones
aching for tomorrow
what waits behind the trees
across the old tracks
history coming to set your day on fire
Rashida James-Saadiya is a writer, visual artist and cultural educator. Her work addresses otherness, aesthetics and the complexities of womanhood in America. In addition, she is a founding member and coeditor of Voyages, a quarterly online journal exploring complexities of Africana Arts and Culture, through progressive literature, afro futurism and creative thinking.