Written piece
Say it here
Shalinee Bahadur
Trinidad and Tobago
About this piece
My thread is reclaiming the past to understand the present and continue the work of decolonising our stories. I draw on Indo-Caribbean feminisms to centre women's experiences and uncover histories from the margins
say it here on this ground
here
where cane used to stretch long-long
and sun used to press down
on back and skin
here
where name get cut short-short
spelt wrong
written quick in somebody else tongue
say it here
that they came on promises
that didn't last the crossing
that contract mean nothing
when you cyah read
don't tidy it up
don't make it sound nice-nice
there was nothing soft
about this beginning
stand here and say
that labour wasn't all
that body carry more
than what estate take
that survival happen quiet
in ways nobody write down
when you come to these sites
they go show you building
tools
dates
but look again and
see who missing
the woman who endure
the marks that stay
the rituals
that travel
threaded through hand
through body
through time
This is Trinidad
this ground know
if we don't say it here
where it happen
then the ground keep it
and we go walk all over it
not knowing