Dangerous Things

By Tiphanie Yanique
Read by Selina Nwulu

This is the island.
It is small and vulnerable,
it is a woman, calling. You love her
until you are a part of her
and then, just like that
you make her less than she was
before—the space
that you take up is a space where she cannot exist
It is
something in her history
that does this
Don’t mind
her name The island
is a woman Therefore,
dangerous things live below
Beautiful things, also—which can be the most dangerous.
True, we will never be
beyond our histories.
And so I am the island.
And so this is a warning.

Credits

Directed by Matthew Thompson.

“Dangerous Things” from Wife (Peepal Tree Press, 2015) © Tiphanie Yanique, reproduced by permission of Peepal Tree Press.