We are the first generation to trace
our lost ancestry back

to regions of our motherland
the answer was always inside

We were always the key
to unlock where we came from
before tribal wars

before traders
before doors of no return
before the great sea

something’s invisible inside us
that grounds us to the earth

to the land
to the soil
to the trees
to the sky

under which our grandmothers
ten times removed grieved for us

Before we were stolen
Before we were sold

We are the first generation
able to look inside
and see where we came from

---

Ellen June Wright is an American poet with British and Caribbean roots. Her work has been published in Gulf Coast, Plume, Tar River, Missouri Review, Caribbean Writer, Obsidian, Verse Daily and the North American Review. She’s a Cave Canem and Hurston/Wright alumna and has received Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. To learn more about her work, visit her website: https://ellenjunewright.com/.