Every time I begin to write about my ancestors I end up empty.

I appreciate the skills they’ve passed down.

I have their strong hands,

catered for creation,

I know the history of their endurance

But their silence came at cost:

the trauma guided them,

the privilege enabled them,

the blood elevated them.

The greatest burdens they’ve left me either drip in malignant pride

or a willing ignorance of a devastating magnitude.

(Hour 20)