
Credit: Malaika Bergner
Malaika Bergner – “Eviction in Heaven”
In the hereafter
I walk across the grassy great plain
The sky pink and purple above me
Embodying the galaxies of my dreams.
Though maybe I don’t get to dream anymore.
But being here,
I feel more alive than ever.
I am at peace.
I sit at the feet of my Great Aunt Phillis Wheatley
& my Auntie Zora Neale Hurston
They have been on this plane for hundreds of years.
They have made a home here though not by choice,
Pushed out of lower planes
They still write here
They love here.
I too died young,
But it was worth it to arrive here
In the great unknown.
Suddenly I feel something cold, creeping up my neck
It’s familiar, though never has it touched my body with such force
Will this kill me all over again?
Will this push me out of a place I call home,
Again?
My feet are unearthed
I am no longer rooted
The force pushes my chest and I can’t fight it.
Below me a sprawling scene begins to change so quickly
There is nothing I can do but watch
The land beneath me pass me by.
Nothing lasts for us.
Not even in heaven.