"i call him to me for an ancestral chat"

May the gears of your life be greased abundantly today!
May your ecosystem glow.
May you feel a hug from far away.

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detail from ‘It's Universal: Gears, Pulleys and Pathways,’ Anita Cooke, 2023,
acrylic-painted canvas cut into strips and sewn, mounted on wood panels

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A Talk with My Grandson, Age Six
by Wanda Coleman

there’s a cosmic storm whenever he’s in my orbit
five races at war outside time, trapped

in one spindly high-toned body, knobby elbows and knees

the rigorously loving teachings of mom and dad take
root despite media engineering and peer pressures.
the snippy cuttings, mouthy snipings, and cheeky wit
that will soon attend his adolescent defenses have yet
to materialize. right now he knows not to prevaricate

and so, that fall morning when i call him
to me for an ancestral chat, to take him into my lap

he hesitates.

don’t be afraid, i say. he takes a few eager skips
that turn into squirms when i grab him and hold him tight

situated in my softness, he relaxes some
but stares at my hands in consternation

this is what happens, i think, when the eyes go against the heart

You’re all mixed up, aren’t you?

Yes.

Your mother belongs to me. What’s my name?
What do you call me?

Grandma.

You don’t want to like me,
do you?

Yes.

Because I’m brown.

He’s silent.

Is it because I’m brown?

Yes.

Well, that’s okay. I’m going
to be brown forever. Is it
okay if I like you?

Yes.

then I hug him and let go, wondering
if that’s enough to set him free.

from "The World Falls Away” Copyright © 2011 by Wanda Coleman.

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Creative Invitations

1
What are you mixed up about? Slather some jam on it and get down in the muck. Wrassle with it. Try to explain it to your Grandma.

2
The great teacher Lynda Barry suggests we draw a spiral before beginning to write or draw~ to get “back to the top of the mind.” Try it!