PINEAPPLES IN THE MUD by Makeda K. Braithwaite

i mind the fields of pineapples. i go through the barbe-wired fields,

i walk through the mud, the razor grass, i sling the sack upon my back. 

find between the rue of yesterday, the blossom of tomorrow.

in the field there is;

a lack of look-backs. i cast a look, to the ring upon your finger. 

what do you have to prove? burrow here, the fruit is sweet. pay a toll. 

the dew of the morning has passed; succumb to the passage of time

and linger with me, roll in the soft, the dud of the bunch is cast aside; borrow a garbe

from the sack, move along the mud, through the grass, bleed upon the

earth.

in the field, there is just us. 

Makeda K. Braithwaite is a Guyanese based writer. She has published fiction in Fiyah Lit Mag, Brigid’s Gate Press, and upcoming in MVMedia. Her manuscript of short speculative fiction won the 2022 Guyana Prize for Best Fiction (Third). In June of this year, she had her debut chapbook, Go Fish; Go In De Pack, published by Bamboo Talk Press. This book was also shortlisted for Best First Book of Poetry in the Guyana Prize 2023. Makeda's current occupation is that of an editor for a small university press in Guyana; she is also a Submission's Editor at Uncanny Magazine. In her free time, she attempts to learn new languages and bakes gluten free food.