Between the land and the sea

Here's a favourite Jackie Kay poem, taken from her truly wonderful 2011 Fiere collection, as pictured:


Between the Dee and the Don

‘The middle ground is the best place to be’
-- Igbo saying

I will stand not in the past or in the future
not in the foreground or the background;
not as the first child or the last child.
I will stand alone in the middle ground.

I was conceived between the Dee and the Don.
I was born in the city of crag and stone.

I am not a daughter to one father.
I am not a sister to one brother.
I am light and dark.
I am father and mother.

I was conceived between the Dee and the Don.
I was born in the city of crag and stone.

I am not forgiving and I am not cruel.
I will not go against one side.
I am not wise or a fool.
I was not born yesterday.

I was conceived between the Dee and the Don.
I was born in the city of crag and stone.

I can say tomorrow is another day tomorrow.
I come from the old world and the new.
I live between laughter and sorrow.
I live between the land and the sea.

I was conceived between the Dee and the Don.
I was born in the city of crag and stone.

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Jackie Kay (1961 - )

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