Conception of Anne Bonny / sonia farmer

In one version,
Anne’s father impregnates
the housekeeper.
His wife takes her to court,
exiles her to the colonies.
Anne’s father follows
by choice.
.
Displacement: swearing
the color of the water
changes. New voices
murmur from the sea.
The skin adopts
new salt and water languages
and the skin speaks them, softens.
.
Of course it is easy
for the man to recover
his social stature
when displaced
to the colonies.
.
In Carolina all you need
is money, a plantation,
a clapboard house
with a porch, and a good family.
.
Displacement: the color
of the world changes.
Why bother with light?
The pitch of the home
defined by the lack
of his shirts hanging
on chair backs.
.
Says the dusty table: Do not
set places for three:
there was never anything
worth your womb.
.
The bed: Your existence
will never again be defined
by the body sleeping
next to you.
.
Did you think
this was a closet?
the sink asks the
sleepwalker.
.
The sleepwalker stares
at the sink:
My dreams promised me
an ocean.

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