Libations

I witnessed

the lynchings of Jonathan of George

and heard bulldozers coming

for our ghetto tears

and i said to myself then:

without libations and flames and sacrifice

without understanding and dreams

emotion and protest

without struggle

there will be no childhood to grow among

the corn and cassava

watered by brown blood

shelling between zones

Notes:

This essay is part of the portfolio “Jayne Cortez: I Imitate No One.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the November 2024 issue.

“Libations” is from Firespitter: The Collected Poems of Jayne Cortez (Nightboat Books, 2025) and was originally published in Scarifications (1973). We are grateful to Nightboat Books for their assistance in compiling this folio, and to the estate of Jayne Cortez for their permission in reprinting this poems.

Source: Poetry (November 2024)