Tortola • British Virgin Islands • Fatherhood • Heritage
The Soil Their Feet Don’t Know
© Nelly Vee
In the quiet heart of Tortola’s botanical soul
where emerald leaves whisper secrets to the wind
and ponds hold their breath like old sages guarding forgotten truths
I stand still, watching tiny round leaves drift—little exiled worlds
floating on a mirrored surface that remembers everything
even the footsteps of ancestors now dissolved into soil
On the banks, life unravels in deliberate motion
ferns unfurl like hands in prayer
bougainvillea bursts in wild magenta
its blooms unapologetic, reckless
scattering themselves like memories too vivid to bury
The air is thick with inheritance
earthy, sweet, alive with rain-soaked roots
It carries the weight of sun-drenched days and salt-kissed breezes
whispering in a language only those born of this land can hear
But my children
they have never breathed it
never felt this island’s song pressed against their skin
never traced fingers along bark rough with time
never watched the sea flirt endlessly with the horizon
This place—my beginning—is their stranger
a paradise written in their blood yet absent from their memory
The island waits like a patient elder
holding stories in its palms
stories my children have yet to hear with their own hearts
The greens, the blues, the wild magenta fire
all of it a heritage they’ve yet to inherit
And I wonder
can a heart ever truly understand where it belongs
if its feet have never kissed the soil of its origin?
Culture • Memory • Home
Continue the Journey
Explore the visual philosophy behind this artwork in the nVeeism portfolio.
Read Krafty Page ChronicleS Issue 3: Metamorphoses, where identity, family, heritage, belonging, and transformation shape the editorial journey.
Visit the Nelly Vee official artist experience for more writing, music, and visual work.
Explore the food, memory, and cultural background of Tortola in Tortola, BVI: Fish and Fungi, Island Food, and the Culture of Home.
For official cultural context, see the Government of the Virgin Islands on fish and fungi and BVI Culture and Tourism Month.