PALMETTO POEM: “Reimagining History”

Wentworth, left, and Amaker read poem at inauguration.

By Marcus Amaker and Marjory Wentworth

Editor’s note: This poem was written to celebrate the inauguration of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and was presented at his inauguration last month. View at MarcusAmaker.net

Though Charleston is a shrine to the past,
where every alleyway and weather-worn road
tells the story of a city resurrected;
time is never standing still.
Running beneath the surface
are fault lines of our own making,
reshaping memory brick by brick.

Hours crumble in the soil at Hampton Park,
where horses ran laps for sport,
and Union soldiers were laid to rest,
honored as “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
Now, a statue of Denmark Vesey stands
in this place named for a confederate general,
as flowers bloom among the ruins.

This year, we’ve done laps around despair;
we’ve grown tired of running in circles
so we stepped off the track and began to walk.
As the earth shifts beneath our feet,
we move forward together. Our hearts
unhinged, guide us toward a city
remade by love, into a future
that our past could never have imagined,
beginning today.

Marcus Amaker is a graphic designer, web designer, videographer and musician based out of Charleston. He has five published books and has released a spoken-word album with drummer Quentin E. Baxter in the summer. More: http://poetryandjazz.com.

Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina, is our contributing editor who suggests a monthly poem for Charleston Currents’ readers.