This Is Us

Black People Can’t Swim

Or can we

Photo: Tara Moore/Getty Images

My brothers were born to be
Mermen,
Gliding easily from
Womb to water;
Brown naked batties
Back-flipping from sand to sea,
Gathering like dominoes
To dive one after another
Into grey-green blue;
Surfing on planks
Cut from silk-cotton trees
Just for a bit of fun.

Their mothers said, “Breathe deep.
Pull like you’re firing arrows,
Kick like a frog,
Stretch like a spear;
You will return with
Starfish, conch, lobsters
We will cook, eat, sell.
Look how the ocean makes us rich.”

Their fathers transformed
Trees to boats;
Taught them how to aim,
Fill harpoons with red fish
Dripping like wet clothes on a washing line,
To be served whole and spiced;
And after, taught them how to dive
For shining, black pearls.