I was called bois d'ebene
I am dismembered 
I look for the different parts of myself
 
in the world's oceans 
in the black blood of Europe's 
monuments

dare I believe
 
that I was no fetish, that this 
my body was real to you?
As faith crumbled
 
I thought you loved my storytelling 
more than me,
Mandinka warrior della Guinea
 
and the demon became my own face.