My Happy Place, Makeda Wells

My Nana made quilts.

They were taut bandages strapped over 

patches of bloodied knees skinned on the pavement 

out front in the arteries of North Raleigh. 

She was always gentle, leather palms warm and soft 

between needlepoint and patches.

Through the dandelion summers, I stretch

back and forth down NC 49 to her. She lives in the oaks:

a tender whisper through branches, guiding me. Always reliable.

Today, she makes her home under North Carolina’s thumbnail,

in the cracks of Matthews. Her hands still weave with the same

worn thread, stitching my broken flesh together.

She shakes, now.

About the Author

Emma Carter · North Carolina State University

Emma Carter (b. Y2K) originally of Charlotte, North Carolina is a big sister, poet, and senior in graphic design and English creative writing at NC State University in Raleigh. Interested in the dance between language and visuals, and how writing and design can inform one another. She particularly enjoys layout design, publications, frogs, and poetry. You can visit her online at emmaccarter.com.

About the Artist

Makeda Wells · Xavier University

Makeda Wells, of St. Louis, Missouri, is a student at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. This piece first appeared in New Voices.