by Ellen June Wright
After My Life by Mary J Blige
When I woke this morning I had been
standing before the congregation
preaching on the love of God,
preaching affirmations of love
because before I knew myself, I was loved.
No matter the circumstance,
I was created from His love.
The energy that sparked the ovum
to divide was love.
Not just biology but God’s love—
a force set in motion from the beginning.
Not flint striking flint
or flesh pushing down on flesh,
entering without consent.
I am more than cells,
more than muscle and membrane.
I am the greatest creation of all,
born out of His love,
to be loved, to give love.
Last night, I did what I fear,
stood before the congregation
preaching, preaching about love.
Spirit Made Flesh
Heaven’s lost seed, lost flower that spent not
one extra hour in the womb of her mother,
the mother that wanted her more than anything,
but father was nowhere to be found.
She closed her eyes and made him up,
became a painter and painted him on canvas,
on the sidewalk, on the sides of buildings—
muralized his absence everywhere.
When she needed a mirror,
she cut into a blood orange and squeezed.
She painted self-portraits: as a breadfruit tree,
an akee tree, as sugarcane cut by a machete
in the hands of a Maroon.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx She went up to her roof,
her altar. She worshiped there under the big sky,
sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” heard her own voice
echo through the district and across the valley.
She thought of the Spirit made flesh, of Christ,
his back ripped open, his hands and feet pierced,
his side wounded—dying for the world she loved.
Ellen June Wright was born in England of West Indian parents and immigrated to the United States as a child. She taught high-school language arts in New Jersey for three decades before retiring. She has consulted on guides for three PBS poetry series. Her work was selected as The Missouri Review’s Poem of the Week for their website and was featured in the article, Exceptional Prose Poetry From Around the Web: June 2021 by Jose Hernandez Diaz and recently received five 2021 Pushcart Prize nominations.