"Atlas", "To double dutch when you don’t know how", & "May 1st Serenade" by Jess Grant-Domond

Atlas 

Stop telling me of my strength 

Instead 

Say 

That sometimes the world will offer scraps 

And glass pieces 

And dimly lit bulbs 

Tell me that life is tricky 

And God’s will imperfect 

And brokenness abounding 

Tell me that we are all made up of fragments, residual memories and glimpses of agape 

Stop telling me of my power 

Instead 

Say 

That things fall apart and unravel 

Tell me that my world can stop with a daunting cruelty that sets other worlds in motion 

Tell me that I am not atlas 

Tell me that I am not atlas (nor should I be) 

Tell me that I can still bask in the sun 

With eyes sunken 

Spirit uneasy 

And heart wandering

To double dutch when you don’t know how 

Is to form arches 

Compact 

Syncopated 

Then drive into earth 

Concrete 

Let ropes whir 

Contract 

Close to face 

As tension 

Caught in the middle 

To let the girl 

With slicked bun 

Be spirit guide 

Let me show you 

To be in the pocket 

To drum 

To airbend

May 1st Serenade 

You siren and I hold breath under water

We extinct whatever is anchor and binding

Is caught and barnacle, mold and tempest

We live hymnal and free together 

Swim to fault plain and epicenter 

Meet you there, meet you there

We extinct whatever is rubber and ornate

Only the soft can survive 

We siren into be-gone barnacle and tempest budding

Track salt and sulfur scent above eventide

Swim to fault plain and epicenter 

Feel you there, feel you there

Jess Grant-Domond (she/her) is a Poet and Community Psychologist based in Chicago, Illinois. First drawn to poetry as a method of survival, her poems are often inspired by the creative wisdom of her Black-Caribbean lineages. Jess is an ISL Alum and published in The Health Promotion Practice Journal and Black Minds Mag. She has appeared on the BU News Service and the HPP Podcast. She has performed throughout Boston, New York and has facilitated Poetry workshops and panels in partnership with community organizations. She can be found on Instagram @jessicagrantdomondpoetry.