Nerves
With this piece, I allowed myself to experiment with my materials and the ideas behind it. I was inspired by my fascination with sea life, particularly fish, and how I can connect that to humanity. I wanted to explore the biology of both mankind and fishkind and represent the grittier nature of both with the overall aesthetic of the piece.
Felicite Lehel ‘26
Sea, stick to my skin
in salty white spirals down
indigo whip marks.
Mami drag me down
with the tobacco you smoke
through tears on the waves.
Braid my locs with wild rice, so
I might find the hard way home.
Tanka for Mami Wata
Tankas are a traditional Japanese poetic form often written to one's lover. I decided to, in an almost nostalgic fashion, return to my sophomore year antics of writing love poetry/odes to African goddesses. This tanka, a love poem to the Caribbean spirit Mami Wata, is like a callback to the pieces I made two years ago —which, fun fact, were featured in Seeds!— that honor Oshun, her West African counterpart.