I: Edith Södergran

“I am foreign in this land,
which lies deep beneath the oppressive sea,
the sun gazes in with winding rays
and the air flows between my hands.
They tell me I was born in captivity–
no face would be familiar to me here.
Was I a stone, one which was cast here to the bottom?
Was I a fruit, which was too heavy for its branch?
I lie here in wait at the foot of the wuthering tree,
how shall I ascend the slippery stems?
Up above the lurching crowns meet,
there I want to sit and keep watch
for the smoke from my homeland’s chimneys…”
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See The Rider: Ma Rainey

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A Little Called Pauline: Gertrude Stein