dearly departed, look what you started

“You have a story that deserves to be told,

But you will have to be strong, be courageous, be bold.

Trust your knowing and let your life unfold,

For though your body is young, your soul is so old.

Share the story of who you come from;

How some were settlers, others were sold

Because now it is your chance to turn dust into gold.

And though the path has been rocky,

Know that you are never alone,

For there are others like you, too, who spread love where they go.

And though, yes, the journey will now require you to be braver, worry not now, nor never,

For the wheel now turns in your favour”

From Courage, with love

“When courage comes to find you,

Go with her, come take her hand.

I promise you this, my darling, this will be so much better than you ever could have planned.”

A poem I hope I find the courage to sing one day.

Title: Our of the sun

Dearly departed, look what you started

Look at the seas which were merged, and conquered

see the Moors; lands divided and then parted

Racially ambiguous

Culturally confused

Look at all this diverse energy,

All these colours and cultures you fused

They have got me into trouble

Because I am my mother’s double

Now I’m left with a passing privilege,

So I guess today I’ll choose

I know my mom likes that she looks white

And so with her curly hair she fights

But with Swedish and Portuguese fathers,

Did she even know that she could choose?

To embrace her curly hair, and ditch the GHD

I don’t think she ever saw her beauty, her extravagance, clearly

So now here is her daughter,

A little lost, and clear yet so so confused,

Sifting through old news

Observing great great gran’s letters, old content perused:

“Lentas e lentas, suas maos avaras

Vao desfiando pedriarias raras

Terco que as ondas vao rezando as vezes”

Slow and slow,

Go unravel the stones

The waves are praying for you

Racially ambiguous,

Culturally confused

Look at all this toxic energy,

Look at mama’s new bruise

I wonder if she knows, though,

That she has the choice to choose

I wonder if she knows

How to give back the borrowed,

or how to soothe those blues

My dad’s dad has angolan roots, roots in Cape Verde too

He visited me the other day, and I swear guys - this is true

He first appeared as a flickering light, and then came as a gentle moth

I knew him when i heard him, whispering in my ear,

Saying, “Calma querida, have no fear”,

But my mom thinks I’m doing black magic

And cursing the family name,

What she doesn’t see is how the foundations before me,

Were etched in so much battered pain

And blinded with the courage of a fool,

I’ll have to be the one to speak out against the cruel

And though, I still don’t know where this is going,

I know that my bravery is showing

My roots spread far and wide

Too strong I am, how could I learn this and not walk with the fool’s hopeful pride?

And though I’m still trying to understand it all,

I’m going to allow myself to laugh and cry as I answer this call

So today I choose the sun, today I choose the fun.

Please don’t think this is selfish, family, a new cycle has begun

For the hour of the sun, I honour Our daughters and Our sons

The excerpt is from rom my great grandmother’s poem, “Hora de Sol”

Obrigada.