They say that having long nails is a sign of a healthy body, but I think my family’s ever-growing talons may be the exception to the rule. We’ve got nails and hands that could be identified as kin, quick as landing your glance on a set of twins—they are that similar. When we gather together on holidays, with out hands clasped in a prayer circle, or in line reaching for plates and spoons, it is clear that all of our hands came from the same hardworking, yet loving stock.

She never told the truth, ever, about anything other than what she already knew and decided was fact.  They called her Lin, though that was not her real name. Some old fling once called her linda, meaning pretty in Spanish, so she stole the word for herself, declaring it as her new favorite lie.

I spend a lot of time diving into Black culture and the many layers of our past, and I collect relics that allow me to mentally go back in time. my house is like a time capsule of sorts, filled with generations worth of knickknacks, magazines, photos, and books.

the one place on earth where i feel the safest and the most connected to myself is