I want to name my child,
Black haired, brown cheeked, white palmed,
To not bend
To the white man’s tongue
Its sounds rooted to the earth
It was born on, strange
To the white man’s ear
I want her to savour his lands,
His food, his body
If she wants to
But her name will always
Be a conversation
Repeated more than once
Syllables dancing and teasing
Until they decide
If they want to settle
On his lips.
