“Birth Cry” by Essah Cozett Diaz

My toes 
covered in 
dried blood 
as changos
brought in
morning sky. 

Our wings 
like clouds
carried us 
to new paises
when our feet
grew weary. 

There were  
no beds there, 
yet we built nests
that swayed like 
salseros in Santurce. 

On the forsaken isla,
the sun beamed 
against our newborn.
Her skin made 
the sky shame. 

Essah Cozett Díaz is currently a Doctoral Caribbean Literature and Languages student at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. She is a first-generation Liberian-American, born and raised in Georgia. You can find Essah Cozett Díaz’s work on her website at http://www.essahcozett.com. Díaz’s poems have been published in several print and online publications, including The Caribbean Writer, PREE Lit, Moko Magazine, Interviewing the Caribbean, Tonguas, and Odradek.