d In Bel

A poem based on Toni Morrison's Beloved.

d

In Bel

oved, the once-enslaved

(Mark this, Cain)

Lived at 124 Bluestone Road

Where the fishes once multiplied

Along with the loaves.

We could have fed 60 million or more

But excess is hubris, as we all know.

Those in its presence hummed discontent

Is it 1 x 2 = 4

Then 4 x 2 = 8,

Or is it 1 x 2 = 4

Then 4 x 4 = 16?

In America, 388,000 enslaved people

Survived the middle passage

And came to this country.

In 1860

The slave population numbered

3,953,760.

Fishes and loaves

Fed the people

The first enslaved people

Were divided and multiplied

To feed the hungry and greedy.

Generational

Excess

Not divided by Him but by her:

124

1 - 2 - - 4

         4 - - - - - - 8

                  8--------------16

                                        16------------------------------32

                                                                                    32---------------------------------------------------+ 60                                                                                                                                                        million

                                                                                                                                                 (and more)

          A  -  -  -  E

                         F   -    -  I  -  -  -   M

                                                     N

                                                     O- - - --U

                                                     V    

                                                     W - - Z

             - -

          I - - -

O Blue stone

Pink stone You

Blue: life - associated why

          with abundance perceived as excess.

Consonants cut the vowel sounds

And bring a pink death

Pink: death - associated with the headstone

Dead baby blue: Baby Suggs.

Dead baby red: Beloved.

Life is blue

While death is red.

Dip into the

                                          |___|                           |__|__|                           |___|                

                       A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S T  U V  W  X  Y  Z

124

Those first people brought over were enslaved

And they multiplied not to be fruitful and revel in the joy.

They were divided and duplicated and forced into the repetitive construct

That profited some while enslaving others.

124

What happens if we travel the backward path

And revert to that first

Moment

When

Misery

was

mine?