We Dreamed You
I see her face
when my lids surrender
to the limits
of this battered body
and it makes the cane ash sting
less in my throat.
She has fat brown cheeks
red satin ribbons
floating on fluffy plaits.
She hums, traaa-la-la-la-la,
so sweet
like a sugar in a plum.
She skips along a carpet
of flamboyant petals,
red like the rose apple she nibbles
on an already full belly.
Laughter like a bird song
no thick memory
whatsoever of who sent her
into this future
finally free.
Copyright © 2025 by Keisha-Gaye Anderson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 5, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.
“This poem is in conversation with Sekou Sundiata’s poem ‘Urban Music.’ As I explore aspects of my Jamaican heritage and Jamaican history through persona poems, I wanted to express the positive manifestations of our ancestors who dreamed us into a future where we could finally be our whole selves—an experience that those held in bondage could not have had. I also wanted to comment on the creative power of our dreams to free us from any type of bondage we may experience. The will needed to survive is always fueled by the most intense love, like a mother dreaming [for] her children safe and joyful tomorrows.”
—Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Keisha-Gaye Anderson is a Jamaican poet and the author of three poetry collections: A Spell for Living (Agape Editions, 2020); Everything Is Necessary (Willow Books, 2019); and Gathering the Waters (Jamii Publishing, 2014). A recipient of fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Callaloo, and VONA, Anderson lives in Brooklyn, New York.