October 26, 2022
Pangea
Yasmin Safdie
It is the song of the universe
Big bang flowing with inertia
Tectonic plates vibrating
to the rhythm of expansion
It is true. Once, a million stars ago
Before continents and islands,
We were one.
But the ecosystem demanded space
The oceans pushed
And we spread with the minerals
Where is it that I end and you start?
Are my mountains not your mountains?
The womb, our first home
The map of my topographies, roads
that travel within you
My coastlines, puzzle pieces
that fit your edges
Around us
Between us
Within us
The geology of being and belonging
Propelled farther and farther
Until the familiar becomes foreign
How deep will archeologists need to dig
to find our shared roots?
Yasmin was born in Israel and grew up in Argentina and Brazil before coming to the US in her teenage years. She has a Bachelors and Masters in Clinical Social Work and currently directs a harm reduction program for people who struggle with mental health and substance use. In her free time, she writes poetry as a way to spiritually cope with this chaotically beautiful world.