NYU Black Renaissance Noire NYU Black Renaissance Noire V. 16.1 | Page 14

By
NO‘U
REVILLA

Make Rice

To All the Good Witches I Learned From
for Haley

I rinse fists of brown
grain with water that comes
from the faucet and —
even if I can’t afford it —
take the time
to watch hard
pellets squeeze through
my fingers as good brown children
are made to squeeze
through holes in fences on private property.

I broke my mother when
her glass bowl of sea
shells shattered in a two
bedroom house in Kahului,
where daughters were
special & crooked,
fingers like wands
pointing home, pointing prince, pointing ‘til
they dropped off & god
it was sticky to apologize.

Dirty water pours out,

tap water shoots in.

I pieced her back together
years after I saw a house
drop on a woman’s head
like a good Christian name
like a civilized idea. Pretty woman
with big hair and minions sent
me glass slippers, singing with
out moving her lips…something
like girl meets boy
& they make sticky
crooked houses together.

But I never lose
a piece of rice because
that could be my daughter.

12

My mother needs a glass bowl because I had too many fingers & not
enough direction.
Tell Big Hair I’m off & barefoot
forever.