Detailing the nape
Jericho Brown * Track #3 On Please (New Issues, 2008)
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Album Please (New Issues, 2008)
Detailing the nape by Jericho Brown
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Jericho BrownAbout
This poem, from the collection Please describes the poet as a child watching his grandmother wash his sister’s neck. The process is rough — a hint of violence in an otherwise loving task by grandmother for grandchild — but beneath that are layers of deeper meaning, the essence of which is identity....
Detailing the nape Annotated
It’s our first summer at grandmother house, and after our showers,
she inspects the dark condition of my sisters neck, declaring it fifthly. You’re not cleaning right. We’ve got to get the dirt off you.
I peek through a cracked door as she and my sister wait over the tub until running water grows hot enough to kill bacteria. My sister kneels under the rush, a sinner prepared for baptism, while grandmother scrubs as religiously as she scours the toilet each Saturday.
Grandmother takes a break to wring and squeeze the towel free
of water, soap, and a bricklike, muddy dirt. Child, all that noise
isn't necessary. If you could see this nastiness, you'd be thanking me.
Seeing my sister's distress, I open the door wide. M'dea, I think
that's blood.
Grandmother quiets and bandages my sister well.I'm sorry, baby I didn't know you were that black
Detailing the nape Q&A
Who wrote Detailing the nape's ?
Detailing the nape was written by Jericho Brown.
When did Jericho Brown release Detailing the nape?
Jericho Brown released Detailing the nape on Wed Oct 01 2008.