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Hello loved ones, and welcome to week 7

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of Resurrection Sundays for Audre Lorde.

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Today the poem that I'm gonna share to you 
is from The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance,

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Audre Lorde's last published book of poems.

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And it really has helped me today,
has meant a lot to me today.

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I am sending today my closing chapter for 
Gloria Joseph's soon to be epic bio anthology

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celebrating the life of Audre Lorde 
and talking about how her legacy lives on.

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And it's something that has been 
such an honour to write,

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and I also have been, um, just really thinking 
about how to do it justice.

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So... reading this poem today, 26 times,

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and looking at the messages in 
every letter of the alphabet that it gives,

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have been huge for me, and I'm excited 
to share it with you right now.

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"<i>Legacy - Hers</i>"

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<i>When love leaps from my mouth</i>

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<i>cadenced in that Grenada wisdom</i>

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<i>upon which I first made holy war</i>

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then I must reassess


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<i>all my mother’s words</i>

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<i>or every path I cherish.</i>

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<i>Like everything else I learned from Linda</i>

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<i>this message hurtles across still uncalm air</i>

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<i>silent... tumultuous... freed water</i>

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<i>descending an imperfect drain.</i>

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<i>I learn how to die</i>

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<i>from your many examples</i>

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<i>cracking the code of your living</i>

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<i>heroisms... collusions... invisibilities</i>

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<i>constructing my own</i>

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<i>book of your last hours</i>

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<i>how we tried to connect</i>

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<i>in that bland spotless room</i>

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<i>one bright Black woman</i>

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<i>to another... 
bred for endurance... for battle</i>

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--<i>Island women make good wives</i>

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<i>whatever happens they’ve seen worse</i>--

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<i>Your last word to me was wonderful</i>

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<i>And I am still seeking the rest</i>

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<i>of that terrible acrostic</i>

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Mmmm. So, I love that poem.

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And in The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance, Audre Lorde has this poem about her mother's legacy,

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she has a poem called "Legacy - Hers", 
and she has a poem called "Inheritance - His".

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She's really thinking about how can she learn 
from her relationship with her parents,

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and use it, even at the end of her life, 
to construct her ideas about legacy itself.

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And so, as we close this year,

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I know that this poem is really helping me
be present to what it means to close a year,

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to get ready to open a new year,

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without some important people in my life who I love,

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who I now, in 2013, was able to relate to in body,

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and in 2014 I'll be able to relate to 
as a legacy bearer, or through legacy.

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And I want to assign each of you to think about that.

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For you, how would you name 
the legacy you walk in?

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Who are the people 
whose legacy you carry with you?

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And I think that this poem 
is a great model of a love letter back,

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asking "<i>what did it mean, 
those last words that you said to me?</i>"

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Explaining that what you learn has to be questioned,

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the words that we have have to be questioned
over and over again.

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So my assignment to you is to write a letter to someone whose legacy is important to you.

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And of course, the legacy of Audre Lorde 
continues to be important to all of us.

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I look forward to being able to give you more detail 
about publication and timeline and everything,

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for this beautiful book that Dr. Gloria Joseph 
is putting together.

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And of course, come visit us on 
the School of Our Lorde website:

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summerofourlorde.wordpress.com

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and have a beautiful beautiful 
transition of your year.

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Sending you love.