Written piece
The Place of Rememory
Linda Mustafa
Nigeria
About this piece
Toni Morrison says "rememory is the recollection and remembering fragments of the past which could be personal, familial or collective.” My poem "remembers" threads of bits of love as a metaphoric juxtaposition of tender gardening, happy moments, and grief.
The Place of Rememory
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ –
- Rudyard Kipling
‘Hold on’…hold on! You said to me
petals of vibrant colours
a dash of soft pink, glowing blue, translucent greens…
Ha! So terrifyingly beautiful
shovel in hand; tilling a heart- churning, churning, churning, churning
for a while the shovel is light and working on its own
The wind whispering softly ‘hold on’…shhh, hold on!'
thorns pricking my hands
It felt numb;
the pain, a glowing rememory
The grass below my boots stood frozen
they knew that I had been mowed
No, I was clipped, the sickle still shaken
from the horror that was you and me
I won’t tell of the thread of hope that was cut by your words
nor will I tell of the cistern holding toads, worms, frogspawn and water lilies
I will not say how I hurt you and you me
the sun crying in the shadows;
Loudly proclaiming- 'hold on, hold on, hold on!'
deep in dirt, I rememorize
Soil caked in manure and love
my knees knuckled together with carnations
And that peony you liked
it was in my head, no, outside…really?
And I continue to churn out love pebbles, white stones and treasured memories
of two now one, later gone
Inside our garden
that place we found together
It feels cold;
the grass again stood frozen
They knew why the mow stopped working
the flowers demanding to bloom pleasantly with calming smells
Lady of the night, jumping tulips, black roses, assuring lavenders-
all swaying together in a cacophony of rhythmic threads-
Intensifying the silence of the garden when you leave:
and then I hear a voice so sweet, so pleasing
Saying softly…shhh…’hold on, hold on, hold on!