I Eat Men Like Air
Mina Buchholz
A millenium ago, my mother
heads a raft sailed by ten strong men. She is
sun-kissed brown with round lips and tigers’ eyes.
She is a queen of Afrika, before
it was. She swims with crocodiles, and lives.
A thousand years ago, my sister
wields an axe on her warship of nightmares,
her hair, pale as gold, in two long straight braids.
The village men cry when they see her.
She survives all, and lays waste to thousands.
A hundred years ago, my ancestor
is on a boat, leaving Holland and all
else. Across the water is new country,
cruel country, with words and coins she knows not.
She marries, buys land, and her children thrive.
I am almost seventeen. My hair is short.
I stand at the zenith, reaching for stars
far above my pool. They see me and they
know me. I am my mother and sister and
ancestor. I am immortal, and infinite.
Cauldron Anthology
21