When I turned thirteen
Grandma told me she’d take me to
Africa
I told her Africa’s not a country
and she slapped my shoulder and
said I’m too smart for my own good
Umi said I should go to connect with my
Muslim brothers and sisters on the continent
and Grandma looked at her sideways
She said her church was organizing
a trip to Senegal and we’d go to someplace
called Goré Island and there’d be something
called the Door of No Return
It’s where slaves had to go through
to get on a ship sailing to America
It’s where African people lost everything
and stepped out into a future they didn’t know
So when the officers hold that door open
leading out of the courtroom
I think of that trip that never happened
and the Door of No Return
My life, my whole damn life
before that courtroom
before that trial
before that night
was like Africa
And this door leads to a slave ship
And maybe jailmaybe jail
isis America