“The idea of ‘speaking in tongues’ as if possessed by a sacred unintelligibility is surrounded by religious lore, as if such a state of divine witnessing only happens in those environments. What if a vast segment of our communication is held festering in the subconscious to haunt us simply because we privilege mundane logic and decorum in our speech? What domestic traumas or excitements ‘lead us to tongues’ or free-spirited testimony that we never indulge? This poem is guided by those questions and moves with them, in order to reach one clear image and revel in it. I think ‘tongues’ might be a black form, the way ‘stream of consciousness’ is a known mainstream literary device. In the case of this poem, I was also referring to how quickly buzzwords like ‘abolition’ are displaced from their first intentions and gentrified by sensibilities and industries that sell concepts without much regard for the people who inspire them and need them. How can we code our speech to make it impervious to appropriation? How do we keep words and ideas meaningful and true and personal when they are tossed around for clout all the time?”
—Harmony Holiday