"How Sukie Cross de Big Wata" first appeared in Nalo Hopkinson's Mojo: Conjure Stories. Also appears in Thomas's Shotgun Lullabies: Stories & Poems (discussed in part here, more generally).
Sukie is a kind of American Tall-Tale mythic figure who is there to support the Africans on the difficult first voyages across the ocean--a kind of bridge for their stories. It includes this lovely, potent line:
"And if you listen true, you will know when I am bending it and when I am telling it straight, ’cause like a river, every story got a bend."
You can read this prose poem here in the Shotgun Lullabies excerpt.
You will love this prose poem more if you juxtapose it against "Treesong" which also is enhanced in the comparison.
"Treesong" first appeared in Rose Lemberg's An Alphabet of Embers reprinted by John Joseph Adams, appearing in Thomas's collection, Sleeping Under the Tree of Life.
This one moves closer to a speculative tale, relating the lives of trees as the younger ones desire to pick up their roots and cross "de Big Wata" in what might be a disastrous move.
"the young ones try to work themselves into any pool that mirrors the land, hoping it will lead them to De Big Wata and carry them back home to where the people remember their name."
No comments:
Post a Comment