Corrupted Transcript of Mamie's Interview

As a girl, I sliced my knuckle loose—

saffron kisses on cauliflower—

hahahaha—

     we the type of women—bred to hurt—

teeth tend to blister and decay

when any tobacco-mouthed bastard

chews us—

                    My own mama’s name was Lynetta—

type of slave woman out there with the willful men

squeezing buffalograss as they’d slash her—

mean mule played sucker—Cowskin and cudgel scrapes

—itched at her arms and her back—

To my eye, it was chicken scratch and bubbled skin—

                                          for stew seasoning

she whisked her soul into a roux—

hummed ceaseless timbre—her weary 

bones—[screaming]   

hold up—that racket again. 

            Katherene! Tell that child to quit

that hollering—can’t stand a crying grandbaby—

she knows I’ll break 

my foot off in her ass—

                       Katherene. 

I named her after my best-loved—demon—heh heh

heh—Miss Katherene

     she was a rich White woman who’d drag my tetchy

finger from M to E—first time hearing my name drip 

nectar—magpie songs from Miss Katherene’s mouth—

She taught me words in the kitchen, spelling Rendang 

or Tamarind Tempeh whilst I tended brass and neck bones and 

porcelain and teething and—[crawling from the forest]   

            Hold a second, Mar—rattlesnakes 

out yonder chirping—

Devil sermons ripple across foggy creeks—heeheeheehee.                   

                         —the Bible say Judas hanged himself. Swung 

until his intestines went bone meal for soil—

I always wondered why future seers act betrayed—God,

I’m thinking, sets some of us up. 

You’re smart, Mar. Maybe you could find her. Miss Katherine.

Take her a Polaroid—bring her my name—

spell it—with a spit-roasted tongue—

                                                            I’ve always wondered

                                                                   always wondered