Maelynn Seymour-Major
I am sitting
having coffee
across from a man
who says
You’re lucky
to be from Barbados: strike one
The Bahamas
I gently correct
To swim in the sea
whenever you want
to eat fresh seafood
to live in such a tropical paradise
it must be like vacation every day: strike two
He says this with excitement
as he imagines that if this coffee-date goes well
he will spend summers with me
running along the shore
holding hands
heads thrown back as we laugh
at some unknown joke
I think if this date goes well
and he makes it to home
meets my mother
who will have him hang curtains
in her family room because of his height
He will watch the news
with my father
hear the litany of jooking
shooting raping
and wonder where is that story sold
He will come eat conch salad
and truth be told
he has already said he is not culinarily adventurous
so he won’t like it
and I won’t like that: strike three, imagined but no less real.
Maelynn began writing poetry about the flowers in her grammy’s garden. Her poetry is still heavily influenced by nature, but she also writes about Caribbean and/or Black experiences of love. Maelynn has an MA in Poetic Practice from Royal Holloway, University of London. She has taught Creative Writing at the University of The Bahamas as an Adjunct Lecturer. She experiments with book-arts, is an avid reader, and loves her dog Violet.