By: Tiera Sandiford
I have seen how a mother knows endless love
For the child she has held only once
The way she is spellbound by someone so new yet primally familiar
I admire the beauty of this love
And have found it for the people who made their homes in the heavens long ago
They are the ones who have given me their broad nose and soulful eyes
As a most precious parting gift
Those who fought for scraps of liberty
While whole nations pinned their arms behind their backs
So I could know the freedom to dream a thousand dreams
And write my name in the constellations
Like a mother
My love for my ancestors is infinite
It is the power I need to heal my sisters and brothers
Of the traumas that follow us from the womb like birthmarks
A promise of the most unbreakable sort
To write the stories my grandmothers kept hidden
Beneath pillowcases and in gardens and tightly woven hair
I will sing them from the mountaintops with each rising sun
And let the winds carry the sweet songs of my ancestors
Forevermore