“An Ode to Darkness” — from Melanin: Black by Dre Hill (Gutslut Press ‘22)
An Ode to Darkness: In the shadow of the void, that was the universe, was the light of life born. It poured out of the gate of the woman covered in the dark, exploding into a series of stars and planets across a blank canvas. Rocks shattered and merged, rolling, and molding together. The cosmos spiraled and kissed her neck. Like the sun, she watched over the formation of the Earth, blowing the breath of her life into its soil. From the dirt and mud sprang the first woman, molded like clay, in the likeness of she who is darkness. From her loins she grew the first man. It was a tedious and arduous process. She raised her hands to the sky, locking her fingers with the woman clothed in the cosmos. Together they knead the Earth and birthed the first continent, Africa. This is the ode to darkness. The spiritual song rooted in the depths of humanity, connecting the light that is black, with the darkness that is white. This is the story, of herstory, the birth of all peoples from the original woman. This is the balance of nature, the dispelling of chaos with order, and the immortalization of the black body.