Return

Hear her calling wildly in the wood that whistles as it burns
Feel her pulling you tied in her tide with a lunar grip
Holding you firmly to her hip
Returning you to your birthing place
Where your heart pounds clave rhythms
Under a moonlit orchestra of coquís winding in
Your avian paradise of humble beginnings
Her birdsong a hammock lulling you to sleep

Hair of palm trees dance in a bomba breeze
Where everything is whole and complete
In the bosom of her beach
In the veins of dirt streets
Where footprints beg to be planted
At the mountain of her feet

In the dust of memories
Why try to outrun her
no matter how far you’ve roamed in space
This is where you belong
Mother said come home

You are summoned to return
To the arms of Madre Tierra
This treasure is not buried
Why deny fate
Why ask a bird not to fly
Nature cannot be denied
Her oceans rise
Higher than ever before
Above the heavens that bore the rain
from where you descended
Sacred ethereal beings are we the children
This is not a new fight but a new flight
To the oldest destination
pacha, tierra, Momma, Mamá
Her love is the balm for the burn of colonization
But you must return to your Mother nation
Madre Natal, rematriate
defend where x marks the spot
The being that unearthed you
Exposing your roots
so you could never deny to yourself
or anyone that made you believe
you are not hers
Listen to these words
Return to Mother Earth
Return

Note: This poem of Big Other’s Puerto Rican Writers Folio: A Hauntology