Before Lexington
Unremembered settlements
Vapor stole from the Maury River—
droplets deflecting light—
for longer than you recollect.
Algonquians and Iroquois
hunted in it, voices muffled
by clouds, words dissolved
among other, older words.
Until they sold the right, or
that’s how governors told it.
Fog softened the land,
made it seem kind. Maroons
stealing themselves and their kin
fled to it, from eastern plantations.
Built tree-bough dwellings here
with liberated tools, sowed
salvaged corn, sang in languages
forgotten since by heron and crow.
The river a mercy. The mountains
a shield. Not a pottery shard
remains of them. Not a nail.
Mist assisted when militia came to kill
their leader, forced the others back
through passes in the Blue Ridge.
Then lifted its innocent hands.
Whiteness will not save you.
Warm water lifting into cold air
will always erase. This place,
this shine, wants you to forget.
Unremembered settlements
Vapor stole from the Maury River—
droplets deflecting light—
for longer than you recollect.
Algonquians and Iroquois
hunted in it, voices muffled
by clouds, words dissolved
among other, older words.
Until they sold the right, or
that’s how the governors told it.
Fog softened the land,
made it seem kind. Maroons
stealing themselves and their kin
fled to it, from eastern plantations.
Built tree-bough dwellings here, sang
with liberated tools, sowed
salvaged cornin languages
forgotten since by heron and crow.river
The a mercy. The mountains
a shield. Not a pottery shard
remains of them. Not a nail.
Mist assisted when militia came to kill
their leader, forced the others backpasses
through in the Blue Ridge.
Then lifted its innocent hands.
Whiteness will not save you.erase.
Warm water drifting into cold air
will always This place,
this shine, wants you to forget.
Unsettled
stolen
deflected
muffled
dissolved
tell
what seemed
mercifully
forgotten:
this shine
remains yours
and mine
by force
erasure
theft