At age four dance hadn’t been free

but it was a cheaper way for Dad

to teach me about where we came from

barefoot we danced bellies out wrapped in

colorful fabric skirts and dresses

made in our home country

every saturday Dad would take me

for my history lesson where I’d learn

Yoruba and Igbo songs the teacher would sing

for us while giving us moves

to travel across the floor

when we didn’t have the money to travel overseas

learned rhythms to tell stories

learned steps used to ground us

began learning how to find home later on

in my own skin