When the Ghosts Come Ashore Quotes

“You have survived so much
that no one remembers.
And you still spread warm
rain on all your overgrown
lots. And you still get dressed
in the morning. You still
open wide for the sun.”
― Jacqui Germain, When the Ghosts Come Ashore

“Our people know these two things best: water and salt.
We cry when we run out of sweat, we sweat when we tired of cry.”
― Jacqui Germain, When the Ghosts Come Ashore

“The Atlantic has my jaw in its fist because my teeth
and tongue have curled into knuckles.
The Atlantic has Africa in its fist
because they’ve been trading ghosts for centuries.

The Atlantic has Haiti in its fist
because the slaves had so much fight
it filled up the moon;
the moon moves everything.”
― Jacqui Germain, When the Ghosts Come Ashore

“some words carry ghosts no matter what”
― Jacqui Germain, When the Ghosts Come Ashore

“You have survived so much
that no one remembers.
And you still spread warm
rain on all your overgrown
lots. And you still get dressed
in the morning. You still
open wide for the sun.”
‘When the Ghosts Come Ashore: Things I should Say to Myself in the Mirror or Things I Would Say to the City of St. Louis if it Could Hear Me,’ Jacqui Germain”
― Jacqui Germain, When the Ghosts Come Ashore