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the history of mamey

Ketsia Ramos

Read this in Spanish

Mara teaches adages
to a generation that doesn’t know mamey
but knows “bi-kei”

I came to know caimito from Yansi’s hand
when I was 26
and to suck its sweet sap in Libertá
was a cuir revolution in my mouth

my blueprint is an abuelo that never
remembered my name
an ark that I carry like a lightbulb in the head
the awe of so much endless thirst

and in my zeal
I write
I search
I transplant

so that we may remember more
para que seamos gente de formas más humanas
and not like this
every time we have to count
on what is no longer there

Ketsia Ramos is a transdisciplinary artist from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, artist in residence of Taller Libertá, and founder of Edtorial Casa Cuna and the festival LA JUNTILLA. They have exhibited their work for more than a decade across the Caribbean and South America in an effort to decentralize the arts. Their recent publications include Selección de poesía inédita (2019) and Aceite de palo (2022), with both poetic works focusing on self-knowledge, healing, and violence from a decolonial Caribbean perspective. Ketsia Ramos es artista transdisciplinaria de Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Es artista residente en Taller Libertá y fundadore de Editorial Casa Cuna y el festival LA JUNTILLA. Lleva una década exponiendo su trabajo en el Caribe y Sudamérica en un esfuerzo por descentralizar las artes. Sus publicaciones recientes llevan como título Selección de poesía inédita?(2019) y Aceite de palo (2022), ambas obras poéticas enmarcadas en el autorreconocimiento, la sanación y la violencia con una mirada decolonial del Caribe.