There is in the Water
What happened here the history I mean this
mean thing there right there the bridge
where they were lynched and who else
was there and this is always here I
to make them mean something and how
can inanimate objects say what all this
means, you ask, and I say you can feel
through the illusion of not speaking not
moving because everything moves each
atom always bouncing and circling, see,
but you can’t not without help like
a microscope or something but this is
the point, I say again, we all need help
in seeing this, and healing, too, how
everything speaks or screams or sings
and that bridge there, where it happened,
it whistles in the wind with the ghost
of Emmett Till, even though that was
the Tallahatchie River and this is the North Canadian
there is in the water all memory of loss
like this it’s what carries the muddy
currents out to the sea ceaselessly
and when a car crosses over and the wheels
hit the concrete you can hear her baby’s
cries as she puts her down on the bridge
before tying the rope around her neck
andthislandisyourland
thisribbonofhighway
or a noose
and finally I say to my wife, okay, let’s go, cut loose
your fears and let’s get out
of here
and as we leave, we try to talk
about what happened there but it takes hours
for her heart rate to go down and her
shaking to stop and no words come out
until she finally lets go into tears.
Cassie Premo Steele grew up in D.C. and settled in South Carolina, and
her poetry spans the geographical and philosophical difference between
the Capitol and the rural states that hold the traumatic history of the nation.
Her newest book is the environmental novel, Beaver Girl, chosen as the
2024 One Book, One Community selection for the City of Columbia, South
Carolina. Past authors honored by the program include the novelists Pat
Conroy, Lee Smith, Carla Damron, Min Jin Lee, and Leonard Pitts, Jr. An
environmental poet, novelist, and essayist, her writing focuses on the
themes of trauma, healing, creativity, and mindfulness, and she participates
in community events and teaches classes on these themes online and in
person. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Women’s,
Gender and Sexuality Studies from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
The author of 18 books, including 3 novels and 7 books of poetry, her
poetry has won many awards and been nominated 8 times for the Pushcart
Prize. For the past six years, she has led seasonal Forest Wellness
Journaling Workshops at Congaree National Park, and she is currently part
of a team editing an anthology of art and writing to benefit the Friends of
Congaree. “Still Here” is her monthly column for The Post and Courier’s
Free Times, which highlights the wild and rural places across the state of
South Carolina, where she lives with her wife.
Featured image “McEwen Bridge” Uploaded by Óðinn to be licensed via creative commons 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
