Gina Williams
FORTY BORROWED ACRES,
ANOTHER MAN’S MULE
turnrow boss sneers / fingers rifle / heat melts flesh from bone / keep your head down son / chop / pick / pull / never look boss in the eye child / don’t stop for water son / thirst burns / papa screams go son / run / moans no my god please / as men with ropes rage him down / drag his splintered body across / the very ground he broke /
landowner’s ledgers snap open / trap doors / one marked whites / the other coloreds / columns lined up / like cell bars / chains / settlement time comes with harvest / full corn moon / so sweet / yet babies bawl / tally done / papa gone / nothin’ left to eat /
backbone cracks / beneath weight of georgia sun / hoe strikes stone / mama chants / hoe emma hoe / claps a beat / mockingbirds taunt from live oaks / too far off for shade / dog day cicadas buzz / hounds bray from a cool white porch / jugs of ginger water / always
out of reach /
sun gonna set here / mama sings / chop /pick / pull / warns / keep your back to heaven / always look down / hoe strikes stone / sparks leap / hunger-driven plough splits soil / red clay dust plumes ‘round bare feet / so hot /
sweat salts / before it runs /
Gina Williams is a freelance journalist, gardener, former wildland firefighter, and visual artist. The author of An Unwavering Horizon, a full-length collection of poetry published in 2020 (Finishing Line Press), her writing and visual art have been featured most recently by Moss, River Teeth, FRAMES Magazine, J. Mane Gallery, Electric Lit, Carve, and The Sun, among others. She holds degrees in journalism and strategic communication from the University of Oregon. Gina lives and creates near Portland, Oregon with her best friend and fellow poet, husband Brad Garber.
Learn more about Gina and her work at https://ginamariewilliams.com/