M. NourbeSe Philip: before after/after before (a work-in-progress)

The incomparable M. NourbeSe Philip, author of Zong and Looking for Livingstone, and most recently recipient of the illustrious PEN/Nabakov prize for international literature, has shared two poems contemplating the exigencies of our time. The first is before after/after before in which she questions the possibility of returning to the world as it was before the muder of George Floyd.

The second poem, in this together, examines the cosy, cliched response to the  COVID-19 pandemic.

before after/after before (a work-in-progress)

                                     in the after that we long for

do we go

                         back

to the before

that was  will

                      we

        can

we

should  we

                   now that CO2 emissions drop

the air clears

what do we choose

as we long to hold

                                close

                   to laugh with

in the before

of “I can’t breathe”

& refugee camps 

of caged children

& the homeless

of the gig economy

                               missing the safety

of nets 

            the gods laugh

            we curse

even as we worship

at the altars of all that

has brought us here

                                 will we can

should  we

                      must