Poem by PRISCILLA LONG & Art by JASMINE IONA BROWN
Things That Are Red
by Priscilla Long
Trayvon Martin Icon, 2012, Egg tempera & gold leaf on wood, Jasmine Iona Brown
October, its flame-
colored filbert foliage
foregoing green. Red
manure worms eating
and mating in the wormbox.
Fuschia petals tantalizing
hummingbirds, tempting bees.
The sun red and low
in the west, earth ocean-
tinted silver-gray, rose.
Trayvon Martin’s blood
was red, his hoodie black.
He was on the phone,
walking home, his skin
black. In Sanford
he was chased down,
shot down. He was 17.
His killer, America,
calls Black Americans
“slime.” His killer—
America’s shame,
America’s crime.
Priscilla Long is a Seattle-based writer of poetry, essays, creative nonfictions, fictions, science, and history. She has an MFA degree from the University of Washington and teaches writing. Her guide to writing is The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life (University of New Mexico Press, second edition, 2018). Her recent book of poems is Holy Magic (MoonPath Press, 2020). Her collection of linked literary nonfictions is Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (University of Georgia Press, 2016). Her handbook for artists of all kinds is Minding the Muse: A Handbook for Painters, Composers, Writers, and Other Creators. Her scholarly history book is Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America’s Bloody Coal Industry. Priscilla serves as Founding and Consulting Editor of HistoryLink.org, the free online encyclopedia of Washington State history, https://www.historylink.org. Visit her website https://www.priscillalong.net..
Jasmine Iona Brown: “My paintings, photography and illustrations usually focus on the face. I paint portraits, masks and icons or take photographs that highlight individual beings. I use facial expressions and words that convey messages, illustrate a stream of thought, or give voice to the private thoughts of marginalized individuals. I incorporate poetry, symbols, or landscapes that represent the persona of the models I have encountered during my travels around the world. I am influenced by the sacred art of several world religions. African masks, Voodoo textiles, Buddhist thangkas, Native American carvings, as well as Russian and Ethiopian icons, have ceremonial significance and spiritual potency that I strive to embody in my work. I currently live in Tacoma, Washington. I earned my BFA from Howard University and MA from UCLA. My work is in the collections of the Wing Luke Museum, the municipal collections of both Seattle and Tacoma, and the Trayvon Martin Foundation.” Visit her Instagram site @jasmineionadesign.