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Migration
The story about a family's migration from Africa to America told through prose poems and poems.
- GenresPoetry
42 pages, Paperback
Published November 30, 2018
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About the author
Cynthia Robinson Young
5 books11 followersCynthia Robinson Young is the author of Migration. For this chapbook she was named the finalist in this category for the Georgia Author of the Year Award, 2019. Her work has been featured in journals and anthologies, including Poetry South, Catapula: a magazine of southern perspectives, Sixfold, and in the forthcoming Waves: A Confluence of Women's Voices.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 1, 2024
Family Stories Elegantly Told
Poet Cynthia Robinson Young presents eight generations of family in this elegant collection. She begins the story with Egururu, born of parents brought from Africa on a slave ship by a merchant she calls Charon, giving him the Greek name of the boatman who ferried the dead to Hades, land of an ancient god who shared its name. Egururu kept her name secretly but was known as Charity to the master and slave traders.
From that beginning, the poet memorializes a lineage of ancestors through years of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crowe laws and flight to northern cities. I almost said survived those years, but some of those ancestors lives were cut short by mobs. The poet herself is proof that her family survived.
The stories continue, though story seems a poor word for these heroic verses. The poet speaks of the parents and the death of her father. She tells us of her resolve to keep their stories alive. We witness a visit by her deceased mother who speaks in conversation:
Why did you come back?
“To tell you not to worry.”
Why did you come back?
“Because I didn’t want to leave.”
Like the poets mother, the reader lucky enough to have a copy of these verses will want to return to this slim volume again and again.
Poet Cynthia Robinson Young presents eight generations of family in this elegant collection. She begins the story with Egururu, born of parents brought from Africa on a slave ship by a merchant she calls Charon, giving him the Greek name of the boatman who ferried the dead to Hades, land of an ancient god who shared its name. Egururu kept her name secretly but was known as Charity to the master and slave traders.
From that beginning, the poet memorializes a lineage of ancestors through years of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crowe laws and flight to northern cities. I almost said survived those years, but some of those ancestors lives were cut short by mobs. The poet herself is proof that her family survived.
The stories continue, though story seems a poor word for these heroic verses. The poet speaks of the parents and the death of her father. She tells us of her resolve to keep their stories alive. We witness a visit by her deceased mother who speaks in conversation:
Why did you come back?
“To tell you not to worry.”
Why did you come back?
“Because I didn’t want to leave.”
Like the poets mother, the reader lucky enough to have a copy of these verses will want to return to this slim volume again and again.
July 7, 2019
This short book of poetry traces 8 generations of family from African slave ship to present day America, with beautiful, and at times, heartbreaking language.
Although a quick read, Ms. Young loads weight into her words and spans many years with her deeply personal narrative.
Although a quick read, Ms. Young loads weight into her words and spans many years with her deeply personal narrative.
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November 7, 2022I'm excited that Migration had been included in the Black literature course, and Creative Nonfiction at Covenant College in Georgia! The Black Migration was such an important part of American History, and my story is the story of so many other African Americans!
November 24, 2022
Young unflinchingly shares the threads of her heritage through deeply poignant and heartrending poems. The characters in her lineage come alive through her personal research. Young challenges her readers to consider the generational consequences of seemingly arbitrary acts of injustice. Read her poetry while digesting "The Warmth of Other Suns."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews