Arabella Makes Soap
Arabella
also called Bella
enslaved nearby before 1719
by Rev. Moses Noyes
willed to his daughter 1729
baptized 1734
—Witness Stone Inscription
when blood is in the air, she renders tallow over fire;
drips water onto ashes until lye runs down the stone.
Baptism’s sanctifying grace washes one clean,
but still leaves a body black and bound to a white
man, who apportions a rationed blessing.
Soap boils into a bubbling froth and foam until
it mellows into a mild jelly atop her tongue.
If she has not leached the lye from her own desire
burned to ash, how can baptism truly cleanse her?
If Reverend Parsons were to baptize her, would the white god
of the blood-moon let her into heaven to be anything but a washerwoman?
Her soap boils into a bubbling froth and foam, but Arabella
is unclean—wantonly rapturously desirous of freedom, Arabella is a sinner—
a forsaker of “slaves, be obedient to your masters with fear and trembling.”
Even so, the submitted Arabella will sink into the baptismal basin,
knowing she will only reemerge as herself.
Notes:
This poem is from “The Witness Stones Project” portfolio that appeared in the November 2021 issue. The authors write about the series and the collaborative process here.
Source: Poetry (November 2021)