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Natural, Political, Mind-Body Worlds in These Devotional Poems
Poems: ‘motherworld’ by Destiny Hemphill
Destiny Hemphill’s poetry book motherworld: a devotional for the alter-life (Action Books, 2023) called to me from a table at AWP Seattle last month. See how she creates/recreates/summons the world.
“tell em my body be galactic”
Natural World
The first poem is “i. the portal appears”. The subtitle explains that it is “an invocation to be read aloud.” If you don’t know:
“the edge be a liminal space / & you know liminal ≠ marginal / (& if you don’t know, now you know) / but rather, liminal be a ritual / space / & a ritual space be for summoning & transformation / when you arrive / the fragrance / of mulberry trees / washes over you / it is dusk / you are not alone here”
How you do it:
“ & as you summon other worlds, may other worlds summon you & as you summon another world, may another world summon you & as you summon motherworld, may motherworld summon summon summon”
No one owns the natural world. As explained in “apocalypso song #8 | the water chants”:
“listen: there is no “my” water over here
no “their” water over there
the water is the…
