Journalistic Poetry.
Merlyn - Earth Element
You tell me it started with how your mother braided your hair with colourful beads
They couldn’t keep their hands off it, you know how it is with kids
Black braids stood out against waves of blonde tones
you say that’s when you first felt different and a little less at home
I imagine that’s how you got your superpower of creating common ground
Learning to look beyond skin colour to not be lost but found
In the city of your birth, where you were still somehow a stranger
Along with ABC’s and 123’s you learned to multiply yourself to many versions
By seven you could teach your own class on life as a people’s person
Like the earth’s surface transforms for the seasons
You learned to adapt for social reasons
You tell me you were five when your aunt taught you how to braid
she said hair is like antenna’s
Connected to the core of what makes us, us
You tell me you always ask before you touch someone’s hair
Even though they are in your chair, it’s a way to connect
People relax when you treat them with respect
You mention how you always say, ‘Your hair is my canvas’
I imagine your fingers like a paintbrush
One flick of your wrist making twists with combs
While salon conversation flows
You prepare scalps like soil to lay crops of cornrows
“One flick of your wrist making twists with combs, while salon conversation flows, you prepare scalps like soil to lay crops of cornrows”
I ask you how you feel about being called black
You say there’s no way you can speak on that
Like you know what it’s like for everyone
The beauty of identity lies in its diversity and you love being brown
But you don’t like how the word black is thrown around
Black sheep, black rider, being paid black, all imply a sneaky persona
Language and culture make judgements that can trigger
a whole group to feel subliminally attacked
and you don’t resonate with that
You tell me about life in Suriname from going back every year
And how people get to be outside much more than here
You tell me how your forefathers were more connected to the natural elements
How before telling time, there was simply light and its gradual absence
Suddenly I see how in many ways life in Europe is the opposite
And how the skill of adaptability grows out of a need of it
Though the earth’s surface transforms as the seasons change
A strong core of fire is what remains - constant
You tell me how it’s painful that race comes with pre-judgements
How that’s why you make sure everybody is welcome in your chair
And how just like soil, just like joy, blood and bones - hair is hair
“Suddenly I see how life in Europe is the opposite, and how adaptability grows out of a need of it”
Xx
