Malaika Bergner – “Eviction in Heaven”

In the hereafter

I walk across the grassy great plain

The sky pink and purple above me

Embodying the galaxies of my dreams.

Though maybe I don’t get to dream anymore.

But being here,

I feel more alive than ever.

I am at peace.

I sit at the feet of my Great Aunt Phillis Wheatley

& my Auntie Zora Neale Hurston

They have been on this plane for hundreds of years.

They have made a home here though not by choice,

Pushed out of lower planes

They still write here

They love here.

I too died young,

But it was worth it to arrive here

In the great unknown.

Suddenly I feel something cold, creeping up my neck

It’s familiar, though never has it touched my body with such force

Will this kill me all over again?

Will this push me out of a place I call home,

Again?

My feet are unearthed

I am no longer rooted

The force pushes my chest and I can’t fight it.

Below me a sprawling scene begins to change so quickly

There is nothing I can do but watch

The land beneath me pass me by.

Nothing lasts for us.

Not even in heaven.