A'she (so be it).A thing or work of art that has ashe transcends ordinary questions about its makeup and confinements: it is divine force incarnate! (Robert Farris Thompson Robert Farris Thompson (1932 — present) is the Colonel John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art at Yale University. Having served as Master of Timothy Dwight College since 1978, he is currently the longest serving master of a residential college at Yale. , Flash of the Spirit) The Capture She is called Theit, The Ancient A Keeper of Southeast Secrets A Sangoma sangoma Noun S African a witch doctor [Nguni (language group of southern Africa) isangoma a diviner] Noun 1. sangoma - a traditional Zulu healer and respected elder of Swaziland-- nesting the Underworld, three-fifths scabbed and thick. She knows the sound of moaning beneath layered mud, the rush of volcanic ebony spewing from warriors' caked throats, their songs and weapons limboed like baobab baobab (bä`ōbăb', bā`ō–), gigantic tree of India and Africa, exceeded in trunk diameter only by the sequoia. The trunks of living baobabs are hollowed out for dwellings; rope and cloth are made from the bark and condiments trees kissing dust. Theit bridged their mouths, offering a ransomed tilt to grasslands once rooted sleek in cowrie cowrie or cowry (both: kou`rē), common name applied to marine gastropods belonging to the family Cypraeidae, a well-developed family of marine snails found in the tropics. shells--now fractured in bare-assed screams echoing through Goree Island. The site where strangers called on Jesus, but tossed him sack-wise through the Door of No Return. In closed captivity, Theit begged javelins through eyes that saw breasts branded nipples pinched and twisted wombs defiled de·file 1 tr.v. de·filed, de·fil·ing, de·files 1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute: defile a river with sewage. 2. senses barricaded in rust-- Wherein standing, souped in stocks, she pissed white lightening on their graves, and fainted-- a regal repose hurtling deep through forests where olive branches licked her whole. With a baby's urgent hunger, she suckled suck·le v. suck·led, suck·ling, suck·les v.tr. 1. a. To cause or allow to take milk at the breast or udder; nurse. b. To take milk at the breast or udder of. 2. 15 million souls from one nation and twelve languages and saw herself mirrored in the watchful eyes of men in flaming masks women in serpentine jewels. She danced with spirits of the dead--who never left the Holy Ghost. Resuscitated, she assumed a forward stance embalmed and stretched in stillness a glittering diamante di·a·man·te or di·a·man·té n. 1. A small, glittering ornament, such as a rhinestone or a sequin, applied to fabric or a garment. 2. Fabric that has been covered with many of these ornaments. of handwoven hand·wo·ven adj. 1. Woven on a hand-operated loom: handwoven rugs. 2. Woven by hand: handwoven baskets. Adj. 1. pain-- Having danced the bingelela having tasted tjwala beer having pulsed between two worlds as life ... after life ... afterlife ... burst like sweat from her pores. Her grown babies dripped puddles at sea, teething the bit in their mouths. She whispered their names goodbye, heart throbbing like a severed limb. Stiffened a singular way inside a ship's cradle their colors grow darker, more flavorful-- a craved chocolate, melting in recalcitrant mouths running bittersweet and three-fifths fluid. With brass underpinnings, the Door of No Return unhinged on Theit-- and she blew a storm to Atlantis. Middle Passage She is called Billow A Daughter of Oshun A harbinger of Africa's ethos. With well-tooled rituals and charms sharpened to slate, Billow soared softness into the choked links of chains. In full regalia, she is liquid with silver lightening. For months she tongued Eastward, an Otherworld oth·er·world n. A world or existence beyond earthly reality. Noun 1. otherworld - an abstract spiritual world beyond earthly reality griot griot African tribal storyteller. The griot's role was to preserve the genealogies and oral traditions of the tribe. Griots were usually among the oldest men. In places where written language is the prerogative of the few, the place of the griot as cultural guardian is still stripped of words, ululating tambourines on deck. Howling chants from captains chambers, she loosed a savory madness, whipping hurricanes to death. Her cushioned irons became a white, heated anger leaping at visions of rum-drenched boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. with new teeth and little hair cursing the texture of semen drinking its influenzic potassium, naked, save a grunting cover lapping up stolen tongues. Billow left her senses, and lulled herself into asphyxiation asphyxiation /as·phyx·i·a·tion/ (as-fix?e-a´shun) suffocation; the stoppage of respiration. Asphyxiation Oxygen starvation of tissues. , limbs ascending en masse-- Yemonja bade her tidings. With hair tossed into a snow-capped Snow´-capped` a. 1. Having the top capped or covered with snow; as, snow-capped mountains s>. Adj. 1. wave Billow conquered Gibraltar reaching back to pull the Ibo, Ashanti, Fon, Fulani and Yoruba from rippled depths--until She grew heavy, spawning babies grew wide with underground tunnels grew tall with sidelong side·long adj. 1. Directed to one side; sideways: a sidelong glance. 2. So as to slant; sloping. adv. 1. On or toward the side; sideways. 2. minions grew aloft with branches high, roots low. Spreading hide for drums spreading Mother Africa in billionths-- sneezing wishes, eyes closed, soul ajar she landed on New World shores. The New World She is called Barbara Gault n. 1. (Geol.) A series of beds of clay and marl in the South of England, between the upper and lower greensand of the Cretaceous period. and she is the tool on days when we are without form or substance-- an empty gong echoing around her shoulders. We watch her dream our faces. Some days, quick streaks of sun and Miles of Coltrane surge a purple healing through her veins, and we are textured on the tips of her fingers, our eyes pasted to the faces of her spirits-- some spinning, some soaring, some permanently still. She grooves like this for days, her being-- clouded with tears winded with screams silent in prayer. Sometimes she is a speechless vessel, a staccato touch molding shattered glass into diamonds. The She in Her that is Barbara Gault is a griot for the hereafter whose stories live in silence, capturing words, rhythm, blood, the pulse, embryos, breath, sheathed skin, forests, salt water, iron, earth, dust, the wind, creation-- all gathered, ripened and sweet-- in her. Sculpting sculpting Cosmetic surgery The surgical reshaping of a tissue. See Deep tissue sculpting, Facial sculpting. what dilated pupils know: that we are the roar in thunder the screech of midnight owls the flight of condors the hue of fire the breath of life the trail of incensed smoke swirling. Lana C. Williams is co-founder of La Jan Productions, A Writers' Consortium, a non-profit literary organization dedicated to promoting African American writers, and a charter member of the Carolina African American Writers' Collective. A native of Detroit, now living in Raleigh, N.C., she has just completed her first volume of poetry, Soul to Soul: Voices in the Night of Day. Her three-part poem "A'she" is dedicated to African American sculptor Barbara Gault, two of whose works are entitled Theit and Billow. |
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