Drisana Deborah Jack
(for Yolanda, Mosera, Youmay & Lydia)


in the beginning there was fire
the fire that brands itself to dreamers and
poets
makers, vessels of an idea conceived
@ its moment in time

in the beginning there was earth
embracing this embryo, weary footsteps
mingling w/ tears, seed of wanting
awaiting rebirth

in the beginning there was air
the vehicle of sound, voices raised and
hushed
hammer beating out a rhythm something
like a heartbeat)
something like a song on the edge of our
minds driving us
mad with its familiarity and strangeness

smell of sweat rode the air the smell
of change
of revolution
of fear
of re-birth

in the beginning there was AXUM
let the revelation begin.

Jack, Drisana Deborah. Skin. House of Nehesi Publishers, 2006.