By Aliza Afzal
“Sanctuary (2024)” is an anthology of creative writing edited by Jacob Ross. A collection of various pieces and poems about many different things. Whether it’s about the hardships people went through due to being black or even showing that they are proud to be black. Each and every piece within the book carries a deep meaning behind it; however, I have selected a few pieces to review in depth. The pieces that I have chosen to review, are pieces that I found would have also been very suitable for the 2025 Black History Month theme “Standing firm in Power and Pride”
I’ll begin with a beautiful piece of poetry written by Emily Zobel Marshall, known as “Mardi Gras under the Freeway”. This poem follows a seventy-year-old woman leaving her house to join a parade that is representing Black British culture. The poem starts with a strong introduction by already mentioning Miss Delphine’s “bright orange hand-stitched Ankara dress” (Marshall, l. 4-5) and “beaded shoes” (Marshall, l. 6). An Ankara dress is a traditional African dress that is made up of bright and vibrant colors. It is a symbol of African craftsmanship and heritage. By beginning the poem with these words, we can already paint a picture of who Miss Delphine is. Clearly, she is not someone who is ashamed of her culture, rather, she happily wears it, showing off her pride and love for her culture.
As the poem continues on, we see that “the spirits grip” (Marshall, l.13) Miss Delphine and “arches her back” (Marshall, l.14). It seems as though Miss Delphine has entered an entranced state, one where her body is able to do what whatever she wills it to, instead of being limited considering that she is a seventy-year-old woman. It shows and emphasizes her dedication towards her culture and that she is willing to go to any length, even if it means breaking through the limitations put on a seventy-year-old body. This can also be seen through the next couple of lines where Miss Delphine “is dancing the dance of black skin worn thin” (Marshall, l.18-19).
It is not just Miss Delphine’s pride for her culture that can be seen in this poem but also her passionate love for music too. The line “a trombone wail turns her liquid” (Marshall, l.25) suggests that she has completely given in to the music and, in a way, she is now being controlled by it. The next few lines after this once again refer to her age. “She hip-rolls – her seventy-year-old body tricking time as it follows the pitching rhythm of the band” (Marshall, l.26-27-28-29). Miss delphine is making herself believe that her body is still in fact young and youthful. This would also be known as the placebo effect. She believes her body is still young, so that is how her body appears to her.
As well as Miss Delphine’s love for her culture and music, she also takes great pride in her people, which can be seen clearly towards the end of the poem. Miss Delphine “knows the stars cannot shine brighter than her people” (Marshall, l.35-36). Miss Delphine doesn’t know every single one of her people, yet she still shows love for each and every one of them.
Throughout the entire poem, the theme “Standing firm in Power and Pride” is present. Miss Delphine shows her power by still participating in the parade despite being seventy years old, and she shows pride in both her culture and her people.
The next poem that I have taken from “Sanctuary (2024)” is called “All My Lovin’”, also written by Emily Zobel Marshall. The poem follows someone who is listening to music on the radio and thinks back to a time when their mother and father are dancing together. The poem begins with someone who is listening to a song called “All My Lovin”, which, quite clearly, is also the title of this poem. As they are listening, they suddenly recall an image of their parents. They are “1970s young and dancing” (Marshall, l.3). Racism during the 1970s was quite a common thing, especially against black people. Seeing that this person’s parents are dancing away, they seem strong and unafraid.
The words “this striking mixed couple” (Marshall, l.18) also appear in the poem. Mixed couples were usually looked down upon and faced prejudice during the 1970s. However, this couple clearly does not let societal norms hold them back. The mother is referred to as a “dazzling Caribbean woman” (Marshall, l.11), a clear indicator that she is black. Since they are a mixed couple, it is only natural to assume that the father is white. We can also tell through the clothing they both wear. “Dad” is “in his flared brown cords” (Marshall, l.3-4) and “Mum” is “in a denim mini skirt, strapless canary-yellow top, afro fluffed and patent white boots hugging young-girl legs” (Marshall, l.6-7-8-9). We can see that more descriptions are provided for the mother compared to the father. In a way, the focus being more on the mother suggests that this child who is recalling these images is proud to describe their mother fully instead of being ashamed of her and hiding her away.
As we go on, we finally reach the part of the poem that mentions that they are a mixed couple and how “people watch sipping drinks on a brown couch, wondering where she’s from and how he pulled her” (Marshall, l.18-19-20-21). This specific part could be interpreted in two ways. One in a positive light and one in a negative light. If we look at this in a positive light, these people that are watching are most likely also entranced by this woman’s beauty, to the point that her being of a different race does not concern them. These people could also seem to hold a slight bit of jealousy too, considering how they want to know how a man like him even managed to get a girl like her. Moving on to the negative interpretation, it could also seem as though people are judging this mixed couple. The reason why they want to know where the lady is from is because she clearly does not belong and they may be wondering why a man as good as him is with a lady he shouldn’t be with. In my opinion, I would infer this part in a positive light as it better suits the meaning of the poem.
The poem ends off with the image disappearing and the person, who is listening to music, still driving on the road, but this time, they sense something, “a knowing in” their “gut” (Marshall, l.24), that they were “born of bold and different dreams” (Marshall, l.25). This summarizes exactly what the poem is about. “Bold and different dreams” (Marshall, l.25). This person’s parents were a mixed couple back in the 1970s, a time where this would have been looked down upon. However, this couple was different, they were immune to any prejudice they faced, they were proud, and all that mattered to them was their love for each other. They were bold.
Overall, this poem was very well written and definitely shows off the theme of “Standing firm in power and in pride”, considering that this person is proud to have mixed parents and that the parents seemed quite powerful throughout the flashback this person was having.
The next piece that I have decided to review from “Sanctuary (2024)” is a poem written by Ginalda Tavares-Manuel called “La Luz”. The words “La Luz” are Spanish for “The Light”. The poem depicts a person who is clearly proud of their race and people. They mention the words “nourishes my melanina” (Manuel, l.8). “Melanin is a substance in your body that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation. The more melanin you produce, the darker your eyes, hair and skin will be.”1 How much melanin a person has can depend on their genetics and even how much exposure to the sun the people before them had. In this poem, we can tell what race this person is due to their mention of melanin. They also mention the “birth of sun” (Manuel, l.4) and “rain of light” (Manuel, l.5) and how their “hair grows outwards and towards it” (Manuel, l.6). As mentioned before, melanin can affect hair pigmentation too, so they must be getting exposed to the sun in order to increase their melanin. In a way, this shows that this person is clearly not repulsed by the color of their skin, rather, they are embracing it fully.
As the poem goes on, there are more mentions of light such as “we are lifted by the light” (Manuel, l.10), “Black bodies shining in grey cities like lanterns” (Manuel, l.13) and “We are the luz that light the night” (Manuel, l.14). The words “we are lifted by the light” (Manuel, l.10) give off a feeling of blessing, as if saying black people are all blessed by the sun, which makes sense considering that the amount of melanin you have can also depend on sun exposure. Taking a look at the next line, “Black bodies shining in grey cities like lanterns” (Manuel, l.13), we could interpret it in the following way; these “grey cities” are essentially colorless and devoid of life. These “Black bodies”, the only people with color, have made their way into the city and have brought it back to life. They are “shining” like “lanterns”, providing color to all that is around them.
Within the poem, there are also things mentioned in what seems to be the Spanish language. Considering the title of the poem is in Spanish, it makes sense to add some more Spanish elements in the poem. There are lines such as “La luz nos lleva” (Manuel, l.9) and “Ase-o, obrigada, gracias to madre mia” (Manuel, l.29). Originally, I had thought that the reason for these lines being written in Spanish was likely due to the fact that the speaker was representing another part of the culture. However, after reading through the description of the writer Ginalda Tavares-Manuel in “Sanctuary”, I found that she “was a Leeds born-and-bred language graduate in Spanish and Japanese” (Sanctuary, 2024, p.63). This led me to believe that perhaps the reason for some of these lines being written in Spanish was simply a stylistic choice in order to make the poem more captivating. There is also the mention of the Arabic word “hammam” (Manuel, l.22). This word is Arabic for bathroom, shower, and bathhouse. Considering the context being “body foamed and scrubbed at the hammam” (Manuel, l.22), the most suitable meaning for “hammam” is likely a bathhouse.
Towards the end of the poem, there are more mentions of culture and in general the pride of being black, especially through the straightforward words “Black is beautiful everywhere" (Manuel, l.24). The mention of culture appears in the next two lines. “Each braid I embroider into my head is a gesture toward sacredness” (Manuel, l.26-27). The types of braids that are being mentioned here is a traditional African style of braids. Nowadays, it is not just black people who use this style, but people of other cultures use it too. This, however, does not change the fact that these types of braids were originally from African culture. The way the poet states that these braids are “a gesture towards sacredness” (Manuel, l.27) shows that they are firm with their traditions and that they are proud of representing their culture. The use of religious words such as “sanctuary” in the line “I am my own sanctuary” (Manuel, l.25), and “baptize” in the line “I baptize myself with salty ocean water” (Manuel, l.28) further emphasizes how much this person’s culture means to them and how important they deem it.
To conclude, this poem sometimes had hints of appreciation for their people through hidden meanings as well as some moments where they were very direct with their love for culture.
Bibliography:
Emily, Z, B. Mardi Gras under the freeway from Sanctuary edited by Jacob Ross. United Kingdom: Peepal Tree Press.
Emily, Z, B. All my Lovin’ from Sanctuary edited by Jacob Ross. United Kingdom: Peepal Tree Press.
Ginalda, T, M. La Luz from Sanctuary edited by Jacob Ross. United Kingdom: Peepal Tree Press.
Cleveland Clinic, Melanin:
