Marry a man who understands
your love of passionfruit
and fear of waves.
At least he will love you carefully,
not drink you when he’s thirsty.
Most are already frightened by
your seer’s eyes, by all the lives in there
you weren’t supposed to remember.
You come from a long line of women
with heron’s hearts and good lungs.
There is no running from yourself,
not with all these poems trapped
between your teeth.
Be gentle with yourself
when the days find you alone and burning.
Say the thing you must,
when no one wants to hear it
even when
your throat is too heavy
for sound.
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Danielle Boodoo- Fortuné is a Trinidadian poet and artist. Her work has been featured in The Caribbean Writer, Bim: Arts for the 21st Century, Poui: Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing,Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal, Tongues of the Ocean, Dirtcakes Poetry, Small Axe Literary Salon and St. Somewhere Journal. Danielle was awarded the Charlotte and Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first time publication in 2009, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2010. She is the first place winner of the poetry component of the 2012 Small Axe Literary Competition. Danielle’s art has been featured in several regional and international publications. Her art was featured in Trinidad’s Erotic Art Week 2011, and in the 2012 Women Make Art exhibition in Grenada. Danielle was one of the artists selected to participate in the 2012 Urban Heartbeat Project.
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