For this series, we asked Listener Poets to describe the “story beyond the story” — how they composed a poem and story after the listening session.
“Libation”
Poem & article
by Listener Poet Yvette Perry
“I am because you are.”
During Listener Poet sessions, often I am attending to the emotions and state of mind of a poemee as much as I am attending to the content of their words. In the session that resulted in the poem, “Libation,” I felt a great sense of hope and meaning from the poemee even though the main topic of the story she shared involved loss. When I began drafting the poem following our session, I knew that I wanted the poem to capture this juxtaposition of joy within grief. I knew I also wanted to incorporate the poemee’s discussion of spiritual traditions from the African continent. ”
“I felt a great sense of hope and meaning from the poemee even though the main topic of the story she shared involved loss.”
Though she did not specifically mention Yemoja, I felt it fitting to invoke this Yoruban orisha to open the poem. Yemoja is connected to rivers and fertility and motherhood throughout the African diaspora. “Water” (metaphorical and literal), tears, and blood can all be present at the start of life and at life’s loss; they also can all serve to connect lives to each other in a number of ways. For the poem, I tried to weave the poemee’s words with images of the life-giving power of waters—including its offering as a kind of prayer for one’s deceased loved ones as captured in the poem’s title. I closed the poem with more of this interweaving. The poemee, in her search for meaning within her loss, explained that she saw herself as a mother because she saw the baby that she lost as still existing. The philosophy of ubuntu in Bantu languages is often translated in pan-African traditions as “I am because you are”.