Here's another featured poem from Rejecting My Family's Inheritance
Root
Tales of boo hags riding energy from its victims in their sleep,
The Plat-eye shapeshifting to harass anyone who sowed what they reaped,
Evil witches who cast spells for the miscreants and creeps
And magic that entraps stubborn hearts for the cheats
Haint-blue or indigo-colored porch ceilings, doors, shutters, and houses to keep out evil
Blue bottle trees to catch the Plat-eye ‘til the sun burns them like diesel
Rootworkers with dark magic were hexing devils
All the stories and practices we heard were medieval
Gullah-Geechee folklore, traditions, and folk rituals
Painted in imagery to create a painting of distorted visuals
These customs and practices became habitual
The negative views we were taught about our culture were the residual
The Gullah-Geechee people are eclectic people whose tongues are said to be dangerous
Our voices are powerful, and we speak an ethereal language
Unique African Americans with our own English
Words with wisdom from our souls that they want to blanket
Colorful culture and rare connections to spirituality
Extraordinary twang in our tone and sing-song cadency
Misunderstood traditions that were passed down laxity
Root isn’t inherently evil in any capacity
Hoodoo, Voodoo, or whatever you want to name it
If held in soiled hands, how can you blame it?
White witch doctors exist to right the wrongs of the darkness that claim it
Magic belongs in hands of hearts that can tame it
Rootwork is an intricate part of a culture that was said to be diluted
They use excuses to escape accountability for the things they polluted
The potency still lives in those of us that are better suited
With belief, love, compassion, and education we will forever be rooted
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