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Pantoum: A Spell for Our Living

By Tatiana Johnson-Boria

In which memory were you born?
Colossal: God of an ancestor’s grieving
What dreams were whispered into your skin?
I wake, in fear of what might die with you

Colossal: God of an ancestor’s grieving
May each moment offer survival
I wake, in fear of what might die with you
I hoard memories against a world’s devouring

May each moment offer survival
A tender harbor: in hands, in mind
I hoard memories against a world’s devouring
Offer incantation: refuge among the universe

A tender harbor: in hands, in mind
I carry a power of fierce guarding
Offer incantation: refuge among the universe
Guide this spell to find you

In each memory you are born

 


 

 

Listen as Tatiana Johnson-Boria reads Pantoum: A Spell for Our Living.

Added: Thursday, February 22, 2024  /  Used with permission. This poem appears in Tatiana Johnson-Boria's collection "Nocturne in Joy" (Sundress Publications 2023).
Tatiana Johnson-Boria
Photo by Mel Taing.

Tatiana Johnson-Boria (she/her) is the author of Nocturne in Joy (Sundress Publications 2023). She’s an educator, artist, and facilitator who uses her writing practice to dismantle racism, reckon with trauma, and to cultivate healing. She’s an award-winning writer who’s received distinguished fellowships from Tin House, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, The MacDowell Residency, and others. Tatiana completed her MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College and teaches at Emerson College, GrubStreet, and others. Find her work in or forthcoming at The Academy of American Poets, Ploughshares, and Kenyon Review, among others. She’s represented by Lauren Scovel at Laura Gross Literary.

Image Description: Tatiana Johnson-Boria sits leaning slightly on her right arm, which rests on a small table with crystals and a stack of books with a house plant on top of it. She wears a metallic rust-colored dress with gold circular earrings, a small gold nose ring, and a ring. She looks toward the viewer with a slight smile. Behind her, there is a large house plant and a purple backdrop.

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