I Am From

I am from asparagus, sprouting bitter, long-limbed and verdant

From nightly warm milk, burning ivory white and pink princess day-beds

I am from the pink house, drifting down Walrus Street

And salted brown earth, bearing itchy acrid grass

I am from the avocado tree, a matron 

whose limbs bore rubbery wards, sheathing lurid mushy innards

I am from rice-muffled fights on Sundays

From Gardiners

And names blanched by Massa’s Christ

I am from broad shoulders

And tangled dark kinks

And from round dough faces

I am rotted fingers pointing at graves

I am from minds lost to torrid fields

And dark house serfs

From Carribean Catholicism 

From dark sandy smoothies and bone-riddled soups

I am from babies lost in coppery red pulps

And from snakes beheaded and flayed in a child’s flames

From baskets, time-wizened photographs wasting in the attic

I am from those moments of linked dark hands gathered around coffins

Born from green, pink, and brown 

Madison Adderley is a Bahamian-born writer who’s always seen crafting as a must, her hands and a pen articulating in ways her mouth sometimes fails. She draws inspiration from Sylvia Plath’s poetry and Douglas Stuart’s tender blue prose. She has also submitted her work Lavender Blood to the BitterSweet pages digital magazine. The short story that won her first place in the University of The Bahamas’ tenth annual English in the Park competition, dedicated to exposure and opportunities for  Bahamian high school students.

Image Source: Grand Bahama Museum