A Worm Moon In October
Welcome to A Worm Moon, a poetry newsletter where I, Phoenix Yemi, share what I've been reading and writing through the month.
We’re at the end of Black History Month in the UK, and for October, I’ve been thinking about realities of freedom and about the importance of poetry as a tool of resistance.
I want to begin the newsletter with the poem ‘My Freedom’ by the Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan, and a poster designed by Mona Saudi, a Jordanian-Palestinian sculptor, artist, and activist. The violence of the Nakba is ongoing, and it's important that we continue to educate ourselves and protest, that we pay attention to the creative ways through which Palestinians express resistance and that we listen.
1
I’ve been reflecting on this poem by Sonia Sanchez called ‘Present’. It takes me to Audre Lorde’s seminal essay Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power and I wrote a poem in response called ‘We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings. But, once recognized, those which do not enhance our future lose their power’. The title is a quote from the essay and I’ve shared Sonia Sanchez’s poem below.
2
I've been reading the book Quartet of Poems, edited by Maura Healy. It's a collection of poetry that binds the voices of four black women together: Grace Nichols, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Lorna Goodison. Below is 'Praise Song for My Mother' by Grace Nichols. I've been carrying the last stanza with me, Go to your wide futures, you said.
Also, as I was going through the collection, I made a list of words that called out to me, and with that, I wrote a poem I've titled 'Wounded, Women, Remember'. Thank you again to Grace Nichols, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker and Lorna Goodison.
3
I would like to share another poem by Fadwa Tuqan. This and ‘My Freedom’ (the poem I shared above) are from the collection Women of the Fertile Crescent: an anthology of modern poetry by Arab women (1978) by Kamal Boullata. It's called ‘Labor Pains’ .
I want to share a fragment from a poem I wrote reflecting on Palestinian liberation. It's called 'Blood in the Palm Trees, Blood in the Clouds; Maybe This Longing is Our Way of Surviving' after two poems by Mahmoud Darwish: 'Maybe, Because Winter Is Late' in The Butterfly's Burden (2007) and 'The Girl/The Scream' in A River Dies of Thirst: Journals (2009)
4
It's the last week of October and I've just started reading the book Mahogany by Edouard Glissant, translated by Betsy Wing. The nature imagery is captivating, and with the mahogany tree as perpetual witness, he's attempting to untangle the collective memory of Martinique. Below is a blackout poem that I've created by redacting words from the opening chapter (which you can read here).
Thank you for reading. I hope you've liked the poetry.
What poems have you been reading this month?
If you feel like sharing, please send them my way. You can email me at phoenixyemi@gmail.com or you can find me on Instagram @phoenixyemoja
💌 With Love, Phoenix 💌
