My people came over the water
Over a sea salted with sorrow
Some people drowned in their sorrow
But my people let the sea carry them
My people came over by water
My people lived by a river
Wandering wide and winding to the sea
Sluggish with the weight of the world
Their hopes took root by the river
Some blooms bled into the water
Blood of my people flows
Through that river
To the sea
Meeting old sorrows
My people’s blood flows in the water
My people settled by a lake
Large like the sea
They wintered there
Shivering in the wind
Swallowing the taste of salt
Planting dreams
Surviving storms
My people came through the water
Carrying salt
Carrying sorrows
Carrying the sea
My people came over the water
I read this book to my kids a few months ago, and this poem while fully standing on it’s own, is also such a meaningful companion to it. There’s so many good and layered lines. This stanza particularly stood out to me:
My people settled by a lake
Large like the sea
They wintered there
Shivering in the wind
Swallowing the taste of salt
Planting dreams
Surviving storms
My people came through the water