The Writer’s Almanac for Monday, May 3, 2021
Wind Watching
by Khalisa Rae
What if Dorothy wasn’t afraid of the wind?
What if she welcomed the cyclone?
The thought of being lifted, suspended
in air as release. What if she saw
it as escape, being tossed and jolted?
Maybe
a change would occur if she shook fast
enough. Maybe she liked not knowing
if her body would survive the catch and release.
Maybe being picked up
and let
go in another’s chaos was freeing.
I imagine she was raptured before the light of the day
had kissed the earth.
The swirl approached and she went willingly.
Threw her head and arms back,
and let it consume her.
Maybe she had been waiting to be swept off her feet
by a wild, uncontrollable thing.
Khalisa Rae, “Wind Watching” from Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat. Copyright © 2021 by Khalisa Rae. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC
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