Pantoum: Landing, 1976 Poem by Evie Shockley

Dreaming the lives of the ancestors,
you awake, justly terrified of this world:
you could dance underwater and not get wet,
you hear, but the pressure is drowning you:

you're awake, but just terrified of this world,
where all solids are ice: underwater boogie,
you hear, but the press sure is drowning you:
the igbo were walking, not dancing:

where all solids are ice, underwater boogie
is good advice, because they're quick to melt:
the igbo were straight up walking, not dancing:
and you've still got to get through this life:

take my advice, quickly: they're melting:
you could dance underwater and not get wet:
and you've got to, to get through this life still
dreaming the lives of the ancestors