in quiet storms
stretched throughout the third quarter each day
streaks of lightning
birth themselves into dusk
almost sundown
around town
eventide skies
gone after an 8th of a second
we see you
perfectly zigzagged lines shooting up from the earth
curving right for miles – then off to the left toward infinity
And it tells me everything about how you landed, lived, loved, and left
Great Mother Savannah
seems your timing is always just before liquid sunshine
showers fall
unfathomable depths of water
inexhaustible rhythms in our wombs
unending orgasmic tears
release themselves
from gramma’s eyes when you landed
entering this realm
purposed to tango before its time
young and barefoot on dry and thirsty clay
happily greeting mama dirt every step of the way
us sense
your life in the heart of
we god
we’own fathers who don’t quite know you
enty dem bukruh, too
coming to me
across lapsed timelines
fuh uhm s’posed tuh pray?
Bactize muh ‘gen mo bettuh
show me where forgiveness draws its breath!
b’kause augus’ jes lef,
Great Mother Savannah
seems your timing is always just before dat liquid sunshine,
showers fall
us hear
your love
as hard as dat fear in the priestess’s voice
when she speaks of Hevioso’s thunder
shock waves scattering
whisking bodies away from
what they will never possess
but auntie Gladys remembers your call to
your grand chirren
“here come my shango shanga’s”
reminding me to run to you arms, smiles open wide “we’re here”!
us touched
by bands of rain that replenish
muh inna umbra
cleansing prayers
nurturing gifts
loving beingness
giving we life
you left
transformed like the smoke
Of burning camphor,
positively
peacefully
pleasingly
when clouds give way to
love’s residue as golden rain
na us smell the favor upon our family today and fo ever
like the lavender, sage, and frankincense of ancient temples
where I pay close attention,
muhself study haa’d
while stann’n ona bank
of the Ogeechee River
den muhself know
your real name
a scarification
fierce, eternal
branding upon the left chamber of we h’aa’ts
sectembtuh yuh
Great Mother Savannah
seems your timing is always just before liquid sunshine
showers fall
—
© Copyright 2023 by InnaRae
Photos:
Ogeechee River – Savannah, GA
Great Mother Savannah