{"id":369,"date":"2018-11-11T21:59:03","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T21:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/?page_id=369"},"modified":"2019-03-31T18:01:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T18:01:33","slug":"369-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/?page_id=369","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Madame Marguerite Jos\u00e9phine Jean-Louis Pierry (f.w.c.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cbelle-presente\u201d for my 4th great-grandmother born around 1792 in Spanish Colonial Louisiana<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1876 Marguerite Jos\u00e9phine Pierry (n\u00e9e Jean-Louis) won her petition to the Second District Court of the Parish of New Orleans to become the administratrix of her husband\u2019s estate after creditors attempted to seize their property on Bayou St. John.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

appear pregnant, I dare<\/p>\n

myself, mum in the mirror.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

it\u2019s eighteen thirty-four<\/em>,<\/p>\n

that woman said, when a guerre<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

and a girl disappear in a swirl.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

an age from now<\/em>, she said,<\/p>\n

in clouded crystal<\/em>. fortunate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

it\u2019s eighteen thirty-eight<\/p>\n

already. in our house on St. Jean<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

my children, they promise me<\/p>\n

to sleep: Hippolite, little Marie,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and Francois, the last of whom<\/p>\n

will watch this room as if some<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

stellar phenomena should pass through\u2014<\/p>\n

as though it\u2019s eighteen ten again, and I<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

at that moment when she showed me<\/p>\n

they\u2019re mine. like a helium star, I\u2019ll guide<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

them, until gangs of men appear,<\/p>\n

garish in gore, resigned to settle a score.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

at eighty years old, years after<\/p>\n

ma mari\u00e9 gives himself<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to God, I\u2019ll go<\/p>\n

through his papers, signatures,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

a legal Louisiana just<\/p>\n

to replicate this innate sense<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

of passing on. this rite.<\/p>\n

I must right it. I do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

a guerre.<\/em> my sons and daughter<\/p>\n

sit inside and appear stagnant<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

as white men away the furniture\u2014<\/p>\n

as we yield our receipts (once claimed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

unfit to read)<\/p>\n

to the Second District Court of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can read<\/p>\n

a man\u2019s face well enough when I say<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

our name correctly, which I see<\/p>\n

these men misspell intentionally, thinking<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

their tools will fell us, thinking<\/p>\n

the letters, my name, will not succeed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to impress in a woman\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

they do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

wand the sage. dear woman,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m eighteen. I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

here, jealous thing\u2014girl,<\/p>\n

gear, or\u2014almost sphere<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

spun, luminous<\/p>\n

into \u00a0stars. my child<\/em>, she said,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

your name is a mnemon (<\/em>in one<\/p>\n

hundred eighty-two years only)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the mnemonic remainder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes: <\/span><\/p>\n

While both Marguerite and her husband, Pierre, are listed on the United States Federal Census Record of 1850 as being unable to read or write, the organization and specificity of Pierre Pierry\u2019s succession papers, which are composed of hundreds of receipts and documents dating as far back as 1811, suggest otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, \u201cPierry\u201d is one of many spellings of this family’s surname. Others include: Pierr\u00e9, Pierrie, Pieri, Pierre, Piere, and etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

*previous version of this poem published in\u00a0Sundog Lit<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madame Marguerite Jos\u00e9phine Jean-Louis Pierry (f.w.c.) \u201cbelle-presente\u201d for my 4th great-grandmother born around 1792 in Spanish Colonial Louisiana In 1876 Marguerite Jos\u00e9phine Pierry (n\u00e9e Jean-Louis) won her petition to the Second District Court of the Parish of New Orleans to become the administratrix of her husband\u2019s estate after creditors attempted to seize their property on … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shainamonet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}