by Sherese Francis
In the public space,
Whose body is de fence?
Whose body bleeds and blurs
Into a symbolic shield for another?
In remembrance of whose bodies are sacrificed,
Place a flower near the body.
In remembrance of those bodies crucified,
Place a quilt to gesture which way to safety;
Place it on de fence of the self,
So that each person who passes
Can see and be reminded
That this body can be home.
Sherese Francis (she/they) describes themselves as an AlkyMist of the I-Magination, finding expression through poetry, interdisciplinary arts (collage, book and paper arts, sound and performance art, text art), workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Sherese has published work in various journals and anthologies, and published four chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls, Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling, Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight, and Lady Liberty Smashing Stones, and edited a poetry anthology/guided journal, Baby Suggs and a Purple Butterfly.
