La Sirena (The Mermaid) 

Jasmine Joseph

I watch the trawlers as they come to dock. The pair of vessels hold a massive score. They watch me, bathed in moonlight on the rocks Those willful fishermen who come ashore They toast good fortune. Drink as they unload No wife nor child awaits them on the pier Just my seawatered sunkissed skin bestowed On ravenous eyes. I feel them gnaw and tear. My land legs stand, sing Yemayá a hymn I strut, enveloped in my certainty To learn their names, to dance, propose a swim And lead that heedless herd back to the sea Yes, drink up, men! Come tread the blue-black depths You will atone with blood and your last breaths.

Jasmine Joseph was born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She was a poetry fellow at The Center for Black Literature’s Wild Seeds Retreat for Writers of Color in 2019 and also won the poetry award at the Eleventh National Black Writers Conference. She is an alumna of Medgar Evers College with a BA in English, Creative Writing.