whose children must i dash against the rocks,
sledgehammer with the righteous indignation
of the oppressed?
You brought me here, left me
in this strange land. i am alone for raising my voice.
for singing Your songs. for not forgetting.
You are my Tormentor,
the Devastator of my family.
where is my double revenge? which of Your children
may i destroy for all You’ve done to me? is this
Your answer— here in this splintering mirror?
in the blood pooling at my feet? Matthew E. Henry (he/him) is an educator, essayist, and occasional fiction writer. He is the author of the full-length collections Said the Frog to the Scorpion (2024), The Third Renunciation (2023), and The Colored Page (2022), as well as the chapbooks Have You Heard the One About…? (2023), Dust & Ashes (2020), and Teaching While Black (2020). He serves as editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal and as nonfiction editor of Porcupine Literary. Henry holds an MFA, an MA in theology, and a PhD in education. His collection, Promises to Keep, is now available from Wayfarer Books. He writes about education, race, religion, and dismantling oppressive systems at www.MEHPoeting.com
