Rocking Time

Originally written for Stillpoint Magazine Issue 007: DESIRE

First, she gave away all of her books. No, that wasn’t really the first thing. That took a lot. First, she gave away the things that didn’t belong to her in the first place–things the owners should take care of themselves, as they only wore her down, and the earth didn’t like it. Then, she went to a party, where she could think clearly. Assuming position, back not up against the wall this time, but leaned up against the DJ’s table, so she could climb into the music. That way she could only feel one thing at a time, a thing she agreed with each song–and the DJ–when it came. And it was good that way–sweaty and clear and fun and sad and loud and juicy and happy and full. The people that adored her and deplored her were adoring and deploring, and it was as it should be.

Written in February 2020 by Rashida Taylor, a day after the last party she went to*, in a workshop on Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Dub: Finding Ceremony, a collection of prose poems taking inspiration from theorist Sylvia Wynter, dub poetry, and ocean life to offer a catalogue of possible methods for remembering, healing, listening, and living otherwise.