Retrograde Crania by: Diego Arellanes, Colored Pencil, 2018
The museum calls her Lucy
But her descendants call her Dinka Nash
The maternal template
Squatting in the rift of creation
As her mother had done before her
Dinka Nash gave birth
To Sisters
Who gave birth to mothers
That gave birth to me.
My mother created me
When her mother created her
Just as her mother had done before her.
Nesting within each womb
All spilled forth from Dinka‘s rift
Her cries filled with
The triumphs and tragedies of
Her sisters
Who became mothers
That birthed the daughters of Dinka Nash.