“List: Blessing. Curse. Wife. Slave. Savior. Savage.”
Wampum - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | Polar Seltzer Jr. Fantasy Flavors
The Poem
Wampum - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
In the early contact period, New England Indian wampum consisted of small tubular-shaped shells drilled and strung as beads.
— Alfred A. Cave
The breaking of clouds begins with seizure.
A man grabs another, reasons ransom.
A murder averted in the thing’s scheme.
A cape’s shell transformed, more than one supposed.
What stands behind this? Enemy or friend?
(Yes, they can be both. Don’t you think I know?)
List: Dutch. Indian. Pequot. Puritan.
List: Then. War. Event. Now. History. List.
The shell buys glories of iron and pelt.
Wampum is dismissed. Joke. Sneer. Currency
of the disappeared whose children live still.
List: Blessing. Curse. Wife. Slave. Savior. Savage.
The shells make their noise. The robbed graves cradle.
He who brings food to the starving gets cooked.
The Beverage
Polar Seltzer Jr. Fantasy Flavors
These are extremely weird and maybe not even good. I continue to drink them. Tonight: Mermaid Songs. Tastes like an Airhead.