WHO I CARRY

by Leanne Francis

I AM THE WORLD’S STRONGEST PERSON.

didn’t you know?

 

I have carried thousands of women on my back

between cities and countries

that did not want me there

 

I have carried the weight of my mother,

her mother, my aunties, my cousins

and generations and generations

 

invisible sisters

sit on my shoulders, most days,

as they stream carrot oil through my roots

and plait my hair in two.

 

some days,

those sisters call to me

their real names

(not Benjamin

or Yon

or Francis)

 

they tell me the reason

our heads still shake,

like coconuts rattling from trees;

tremors from slavery

and husbands

and invisible saints

and little known islands

 

I carry these women

as they have carried each other,

from within,

and wear them

like a second skin.