"Asleep in Jesus at Rest"
gravestone epitaph
Click the arrow on the audio player to hear Henri Cole read this poem. You can also download the recording or subscribe to Slate's Poetry Podcast on iTunes.
.
Their names were Victoria, Ebbenezer, Noah,
……………………………..………………........................…..Fannie, Travis, Alex, Pleasant,
William Christmas, and Jane.
.........................................Like father, they labored in exchange for small wooden houses.
Breaking even was a feat.
………………………....................Things were settled when the crops were in.
They were my ancestors and lived along the Pee Dee River,
……………………..…………...…………………..............................…….……under tupelo, oak, and gum,
where wolves made dens
………………………................….("You could smell dem wolves!").
According to the Census, they were mulatto
………….……………..…….......................………………..(Spanish mulato, small mule).
Women died of euremic poisoning.
…….…………………..................…………….Children were stillborn.
Those that lived were sprinkled on their foreheads
……………………..…….........................……………...………….and went to Sunday school,
taught by Mrs. Lillian Ingram,
………………...................…………….in Wolf Pit Township, North Carolina.
One of them wrote a poem:
………………………................…….."There in the boughs, in a tiny nest, are three baby birds
with mouths opened wide."
…………….…………..…..............….When I was born,
I weighed nine pounds of flesh.
…...…………………..................…………Mother's hair fell down
the back of her long neck.
……...………….............;;;………..Tears ran out of her eyes like animals.
Fragrant convolutions from her insides
………………….............;;;..…………..……......…filled the room with the strife of love.
Daddy was on a tour of duty.
……………………….......;.........……...."Remember you got a father," he used to say.
"You weren't born by yourself."
.
“Stink Onions,” “Heart’s Farm,” “Place to Find Gold”: Literal Names of U.S. Places, Mapped
Wu-Tang’s GZA Teaches Kids Science With Least-Lame Classroom Rap Ever
Why Don’t Cops Believe Rape Victims? Brain Science Explains.
Henri Cole's most recent book is Touch, which received the Jackson Poetry Prize. He teaches at Ohio State University.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.Click here for an archive of discussions about poems with Robert Pinsky in "the Fray," Slate's reader forum.