thinking of when my sister used to say swallow your spit if you're so thirsty
Elizabeth Upshur
in one of my mother's diets you
swell raisins in water until they are
full grapes again
the smallest bite of sweet
-ness you can justify.
oceans have never tried to drown me
they have held me, but,
let me tell you something,
my lungs are terrified of pool water,
they say: again? why are you taking us here again?
we almost drowned in a kidney
shaped pool at 6, and in learning how to dive
to the bottom in pairs was almost drag drowned
at 13 by my friend at the YMCA pool.
our whole home almost drowns
in the flood streets away from where
the torrent bleeds over the Harpeth River,
and everyone discovers that home insurance
does not cover floods—
now the city trash municipality
takes your mildewed treasures.
i appreciate wells with sweet spring water
and the ocean where i was born—not knowing
any other oceans in any fashion—
the same thirst veining my cousin's pregnant belly
to swarm a child into existence.
swell raisins in water until they are
full grapes again
the smallest bite of sweet
-ness you can justify.
oceans have never tried to drown me
they have held me, but,
let me tell you something,
my lungs are terrified of pool water,
they say: again? why are you taking us here again?
we almost drowned in a kidney
shaped pool at 6, and in learning how to dive
to the bottom in pairs was almost drag drowned
at 13 by my friend at the YMCA pool.
our whole home almost drowns
in the flood streets away from where
the torrent bleeds over the Harpeth River,
and everyone discovers that home insurance
does not cover floods—
now the city trash municipality
takes your mildewed treasures.
i appreciate wells with sweet spring water
and the ocean where i was born—not knowing
any other oceans in any fashion—
the same thirst veining my cousin's pregnant belly
to swarm a child into existence.
Elizabeth Upshur is an African American writer living on Tsalaguwetiyi Land (Tennessee). She writes about race, place, and hierarchical space in all genres. She serves as a contributing editor at The Seventh Wave, and is the cofounder of The Southern Esesu Endeavor, a digital thirdspace for members of the Black Diaspora.