"Imaginary Photo Album or, When We Die, Our Polaroids Speak to Our Living Descendants" by Art 25: Art in the 25th Century

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
May 23, 2022 

Imaginary Photo Album or, When We Die, Our Polaroids Speak to Our Living Descendants

Art 25: Art in the 25th Century

To Keep
the memories nimble, place your fingers inside the mouth of her hair.
The history there is one motion, told and retold by millions of bodies 
over hundreds of years. Sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, 
lover, friend, partner, braid me. Keep the tales of what we cannot forget here.

 

To Float
think of silted braided rivers. Now extricate the rivulets. Use your tongue.
Can you discern salt from iron or shell from shale? This is what it is like
to make a world with words. 

 

To Re-grow
a tongue, pull it from beneath silt at the bottom of the sea. 
If it is knotted, frayed, tangled, you can take up my voice. Look for my
feathers in dust, find my matted feathers in the surf. There, make
a nest for me. Gather shells and driftwood. Dig a small bowl
in the sand. Let the patterns arrange themselves into a beautiful thing.
Ask me to come, and you will find me on the horizon, glittering.

 

To Claim
you we claimed ourselves. We touched the surfaces of mirrors
with no reflections. Hic sunt leones. Here there are lions. Here are waves.
Imagine us a tide of lions crashing on sandy shores, returning for what is ours.

 

To Unfold
into a receptacle for holding joy, entrust your tender heart to another.
Look. We are more than our scars. We hold the memory of trauma
in our roots. And still, here is a moment of pure joy. See how our chests
shake the air with a trust manifested from generations of resilience? 
Reach for each other. Embrace. Grow flowers with your lungs.

Copyright © 2022 by Art 25: Art in the 25th Century. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 23, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  

“Art 25 coalesced in the summer of 2019, when Lisa Jarrett and I brought to life a collective we’d always dreamt of. That is, we had dreamed of creating collaborative art and literature driven solely by our own questions, experimentations, and commitment to seeing Indigenous and Black art thrive in our own lifetime and well into the future—into the twenty-fifth century and beyond. When we crossed paths with multidisciplinary artist Jocelyn Ng, we not only embarked on our first collaboration, we also welcomed the third permanent member into the collective. From the beginning, the three of us knew that we shared something excitingly electric. Together, we are a braiding of Black and Indigenous imagination, of playful exploration, of resilient existence. It is from our first project that ‘Imaginary Photo Album’ is sourced. While the larger photographic installation, ‘Future Ancestors,’ included some of the textual elements of the poem, the piece, as it is presented here, functions more as an archive, an imprint of answering a very simple question: If the photos albums we pass down to our nieces, nephews, and descendants could talk, what would they say?”
Lehua M. Taitano

Art 25: Art in the 25th Century is an art collective founded by Lisa Jarrett, Lehua M. Taitano, and Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng. Its inaugural project, “Future Ancestors,” was displayed by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and Ori Gallery in Portland.

“We Always Have Been” by Kim Shuck
read more
“Ancestors Are Calling” by T. J. Anderson III
read more

Thanks to Brandy Nālani McDougall, author of The Salt-Wind: Ka Makani Pa‘Akai (Kuleana ‘Oiwi Press, 2008), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Listen to a Q&A about McDougall’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year
This free, daily series is made possible by our readers. If you’re able, please consider donating to support this work.
Become a monthly sustainer
join
Make a one-time gift
donate
From Our Advertisers
Copyright © 2022 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
The Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane
St #901
New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book


View this email in your browser

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Older messages

"Ahead and Around" by Laura Riding Jackson

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Ahead and Around / Met, quarreled, quilled the bird of peace, Facebook Twitter Instagram Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Your gift today will help the Academy of American Poets continue to publish the

"Dorothy Dances" by Louis Untermeyer

Saturday, May 21, 2022

This is no child that dances. This is flame. Facebook Twitter Instagram Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Your gift today will help the Academy of American Poets continue to publish the work of 260 poets

"huki the gate" by kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui

Friday, May 20, 2022

huki the gate— / work the lock with your fingers, Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day May 20, 2022 huki the gate kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui for Kauaʻi paniolo Uncle David Hepa and Uncle Keoki Ka

"Waikīkī Returns" by Christy Passion

Thursday, May 19, 2022

I do not have any memories of Waikīkī ever being like this Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day May 19, 2022 Waikīkī Returns Christy Passion I do not have any memories of Waikīkī ever being

"Our Red Road" by Donovan Kūhiō Colleps

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

This morning I didn't even honi you when I came in. Facebook Twitter Instagram Support Poem-a-Day May 18, 2022 Our Red Road Donovan Kūhiō Colleps This morning I didn't even honi you when I came

You Might Also Like

'Theme' Every Work Day for a More Productive Week

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Don't Delete Your X Account (Do This Instead). Every day should have a specific focus when you're working on something big. Not displaying correctly? View this newsletter online. TODAY'S

Selena Gomez’s Cleavage-Baring “Cheugy” Dress Was Dazzling

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Plus, Tyla's tiger print French mani, the 'Golden Bachelor' effect, your horoscope, & more. Nov. 7, 2024 Bustle Daily Gerry Turner, who led the successful first season of 'The

1.5C is dead. The climate fight isn’t.

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Trump's re-election is “the final nail in the coffin” for the Paris Agreement's North Star goal, nine experts told HEATED. But we can still limit the damage. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

'Say Nothing' Is a Fearless Adaptation of a Remarkable Book

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Today in style, self, culture, and power. The Cut November 7, 2024 TV Say Nothing Is a Fearless Adaptation of a Remarkable Book Missing Derry Girls? Try FX's captivating series about the Troubles

Update from The Weekly Wrap

Thursday, November 7, 2024

*deep breath* ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Poems and resources for November

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Curated for Thanksgiving, Native American Heritage Month, and more Facebook Twitter Instagram November 2024 poems to read and share November is Native American Heritage Month. Celebrate with the

Let It Go

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Back at home ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Let It Go

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Back at home ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

"We'll float between two worlds—"

Thursday, November 7, 2024

November 7, 2024 a poem from our archive (2009) Read more by former Chancellor Ellen Bryant Voigt #poetrynearyou Tonight, join us for Gather in Poems, a free and virtual reading in the spirit of

Car-Centric Design Is A Real Thing

Thursday, November 7, 2024

An absurd example of something we've gotten very used to ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏