Christine Rose James  

Christine Rose James was born on September 15, 1984 in Louisville, Kentucky as the youngest of three daughters.  Her love of everything southern was already cemented from not only her birth state but also her parents’ south Indian home state of Kerala.  Growing up, she was fortunate in having elements of both Kentucky and Kerala in her upbringing, an aspect of her life that is reflected in her poetry.  Christine is currently a Women’s Studies major at Duke University and aspires to become a physician in the future.  She feels very blessed in being part of the Affrilachian poets, which has allowed her to continue writing and share with others while pursuing her other interests.

 

Bandit Memory
For my grandmother

I stare at your bed
My sheets have fallen in love with your quilt
finding solace in one another’s threads
I pull them apart
until their mountains sink into valleys
until your quilt lies on my sheet’s back
I let them hug my waist
and curl between my legs
I turn onto my side like a fish
straining against the sand, drained of water
but my limbs are heavy
My fingers skate along the crater in your pillow
climbing out along the strands of silver hair
I tie a tattered cream cloth under my nose
stretched across my face
like a bandit
I am stealing a scent of you