A neighbor girl asks me why my father is black— “It’s weird that he’s black,” she says. “Why?” I ask, my skin shaking like autumn losing itself to the bones. * Home is a material we are wrapped inside—national, domestic, ecological, skin— Does this violence embarrass you? A new home growing, growing old. My father…

I remember the time before language Out of earth’s cracked stomach I was wilderness Before limbs I was air before voice I was water collecting sediment and yet I yearn for this place    Time shudders a hole inside me an old life like a polaroid left in the sun I am always half-leaving  …

* 1 Magic Tree House Book #13: Vacation Under the Volcano I wanted to follow Jack and Annie across time and space, to be them both 2 safe within the confines of my own space and body 3 A daughter, a sister, a niece, an alumna 4 What does it feel like to fear being…