Theories of Time and Space

Photo via Flickr

Theories of Time and Space
By Natasha Trethewey
From Native Guard: Poems

You can get there from here, though
there’s no going home.

Everywhere you go will be somewhere
you’ve never been. Try this:

head south on Mississippi 49, one-
by-one mile markers ticking off

another minute of your life. Follow this
to its natural conclusion – dead end

at the coast, the pier at Gulfport where
riggings of shrimp boats are loose stitches

in a sky threatening rain. Cross over
the man-made beach, 26 miles of sand

dumped on a mangrove swamp – buried
terrain of the past. Bring only

what you must carry – tome of memory
its random blank pages. On the dock

where you board the boat for Ship Island,
someone will take your picture:

the photograph – who you were –
will be waiting when you return

Comments

[danbarkley]

Hey Everyone!

My name is Dan Barkley and I am a law student at the Seattle University School of Law. I also work as one of the Content Development Editors for the Seattle Journal for Social Justice. We are currently working on an issue devoted to the continuing effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Because we are an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the mission of furthering social justice issues, we often print poetry and other creative artwork, and it is in this regard I am contacting you. I'm hoping someone (like you, or someone you know) might 1) be interested in having your work featured, or 2) have any ideas of writers who would like their New Orleans and Katrina-related work to be featured in our journal.

We would need submissions by October 24, and I would be very appreciative of any leads you could send me.

Best,

Dan Barkley
Content Development Editor
Seattle Journal for Social Justice