Three Poems by Hannah Edeki

Out of Zong

“The last ten victims sprang disdainfully from the grasp of their executioners, and leaped into the sea triumphantly embracing death.” 

—F.O.Shyllon

They leapt out of Zong like flying fish
Their pectoral fins
Seized the hands of death

 They serenaded the spume of the sea
And speckled its deep with a scarlet red

Like a throng of messianic angels
Their voices swelled like rippled waves—
A new spiritual conceived
Inside the gullet of the cerulean grave

 Notes

*Zong –a British Slave ship
*Quote taken from Shyllon, F. O. (1974). Black Slaves in Britain. London: Oxford University Press.

 Soul Pangs 

We remembered
When we used to dance the yankadi—
Slow and intimate
To the swift
And passionate steps of the balélé,
Which we imprinted,
Upon the longing palms of ochre earth.

 We remembered
The days of captivity—
Broken & bruised,
The sky draped in a rich darkness,
Our tears glistened against our sullen cheeks. 

Our souls
Ascended and flickered
Like the evening fire
When we performed the Juba,
Along the venomous shoulders of Ohio,
Down the curve of Ripley’s spine,
And then
Shuffled for miles
Through the spiky heads of stubbly fields
Where the coarseness of our breath
Unnerved the cranium of twigs 

On that sweet-tempered morning
When our flesh died
And our spirits were free.

Notes
* The Yankadi - A traditional dance performed in Guinea, West Africa
*The Balélé - A traditional dance performed in Equatorial Guinea, West Central Africa
*The Juba dance - performed by the African-American slaves on the plantations
*Ripley’s Spine – Refers to Ripley, a Village in Ohio, United States. The Village was known for providing places of refuge for slaves that had escaped from their masters. 

 

 

Ashes & Sorrow

For Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman

Scorched,
The Gasterias have turned a gothic black
& new petals born of ash
Litter the sky.

 Sometimes,
I wait for you at the top of the hills
To watch the Gamtoos River
Quench the lands thirst.
Here, where my heart seeps
Like a malignant clot,
Echoes are lonely.
My tongue refuses to click.

Notes
* Gasterias – South African flower

 Hannah Edeki is a poet and writer, born and bred in London. Her work has appeared in The New Black Magazine, Shangwe News and Palapala Magazine.

 

Comments

[Wirndzerem GB]

this is resplendent poetry so full of tissue, time and mind. the touch of every line, every pulse, & every pause hints a profound mastery of the art...and the nostalgic african references bless the poems in ineffable ways. i must re-read these!

[Hannah E]

Thank you Wirndzerem GB for blessing the poems with your lovely comment :-)