Coral Grief: A Liturgy of Lament

Abstract

Coral Grief: A Liturgy of Lament is a liturgical work of poetic vignettes, musical offerings, responsive readings, visual storytelling, and other narrative elements about coral bleaching, antiblackness, writing, gender, and ancestry. It’s a journey that opens on South Florida coral reefs and fans into the lands and waters of Cuba, the Canary Islands, and Boston. The coral, once rich and vibrant in relationship, are increasingly bleaching. Some are finding ways to care for themselves, as we find ways to care for them and one another. The sacred geographies of the Coral Reefs, Jesus, and the Virgin, weave in and out of the text that undulates through familial relationships spanning four generations, inviting participants to consider their own relationships, too. This liturgy explores the realities of coral bleaching and blanqueamiento (racial whitening) policies, alongside the joys and risks of vulnerability in seeking out intergenerational dialogue and deeper connections.