skin your teeth

i cross my arms

your shadowed eyes

your skin your teeth

and i arise

your shadowed eyes

look down at me

and i arise

but sleepily

look down at me

and find my face

but sleepily

i cradle grace

i cradle grace

you cradle me

and find my face

delightful

you cradle me

and skin your teeth

the light

reaches across

(This pantoum is for my Nana who is the secret star of this christening photo album. She is in so many of the pictures. Even in pictures I thought she wasn’t in I find her earring, one eye, a wisp of hair. She is also the only person other than me who has a complete costume change somewhere in the midst of the day. This poem is a celebration of what it is to be held and smiled upon. I am. We are. Like my ongoing conversations with my Nana this poem also plays with a poetic relationship between Jamaican and American englishes. I love you Nana Nana. Always.)