Bellow into the wind all weakness
rooted in the fears of an overbearing society,

the one that robs you of your femininity, 
a country that drains you of your fierceness.

Let the current take with it 
the burden of your ancestors,

a toll taxed with the memory of a nation 
struggling to accept that which is sown into the land, 

into the cane, into the coffee, into the cotton, 
into the sweat dripping down the forehead 

of your great-grandfather who tried to love a woman 
in the hopes that he might outrun his queer transgressions.

Feel the air lift you pass the disquiet of your aunty, 
the one who would visit Trinidad to indulge in her female friend,

the companion who never earned a name, a face, 
her body bursting with affection of the flesh 

for your aunty who preferred tank tops, and cargo shorts and flip flops
paired with alluring red lip stick and a full face of make-up,

aunty’s own tiny rebellion against the unsympathetic
consciousness of a region denying her embeddedness.

You are in the sky now
between the earth and the stars,

free to write your own history of desire,
able to make love to your partner in all three spaces;

below the earth, above the sky, 
between the stars as they ravage you, 

as you delight in him,
as all five bodies devour each other. 

We unmute history with every touch, every sigh, every tear,
paying homage to our decadent ancestry.

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LINZEY CORRIDON is a Southern-Caribbean guy who drifted North. His creative and academic research remains rooted in the experiences of queer Caribbean and diaspora peoples. Linzey’s writing can be found in publications such as The Puritan, Insight Journal, and Emotional Magazine. He is a PhD student in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University.