The Mansion: Where Past And Present Meet

In the Octagon Room

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Morris-Jumel Mansion invited me to perform the poems I had initially written for the landmark two years prior. Although I had been a featured poet for the mansion before, it felt different this time because it was indoors and other poets did not accompany me. Also, it was just me for thirty minutes of poetry reading while visitors toured the space.

Serving as the featured poet for the oldest surviving house in Manhattan felt surreal because this is the same place where our first President George Washington stayed with his army for about a month during the American Revolutionary War; where former Vice President Aaron Burr briefly lived as the spouse of owner Eliza Jumel; where the wife and children of Twelve Years A Slave author lived and worked, and where Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote some of Hamilton's songs. How could it not feel bizarre now that I was associated with so much historical context?

To have my gifts and talents showcased on such historical grounds made me feel honorable and regal. Standing in the middle of a naturally lit and brightly decorated room filled with centuries-old artifacts and decor while wearing my big, kinky-curly hair in front of a predominantly white audience made me feel like Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton. I felt empowered and affirmed like I was on a time machine mission.

While growing up in The Heights, I never knew of this mansion. It is like a hidden gem on a mountaintop. The schools I attended never spoke of it or scheduled any trips to tour the house. As a result, I didn't even know it existed until I saw the call for submissions to participate in this living landscape project where we would write poems for the mansion and have them published in a book.

To create those poems, I studied the documents provided by the mansion and then toured the site to get as much material as possible for the project. I worked on this endeavor for about nine months and wrote Elegy For Truths Disappeared From History [Books], Between Hell and Hearth, and A Brief But Worthy Account Of The Dominican American Prototype. Three poems I am extremely proud of because at times, this endeavor felt monumental and like I didn't know what I had gotten myself into. But in the end, with intention, focus, and prayer it all turned out better than I could have pictured it. I was and continue to be exceptionally proud of what was born from all the research and numerous drafts it took to get to the finish line.

Sometimes, when I think of my connection to the mansion, I reimagine myself as a book character. Perhaps as the reincarnated spirit of a young slave who lived and worked here hundreds of years ago and returned to speak up after generations/centuries of being coerced to remain silent and do as slaveowners demanded. And so, I wear this experience as a badge of honor, privilege, and reverence. I carry it as a fulfilled mission that may or may not have lived within me for centuries. And I got to do it not once but twice.

Performing one of three poems written for the mansion