The Tradition

The flowers in “The Tradition” are beautiful but fleeting, and they are an ever-present theme in the poem. Most of the text focuses on the flowers themselves (Line 1, Line 4, Line 5, and Line 8) or on their blooming. It is important to note, though, that these flowers are not blooming in the present tense of the poem. Instead, the speakers are watching a video of the flowers they planted (that is, the planting and blooming have already happened in the past). This video of the flowers blooming is a time capsule of sorts: It preserves the blossoms beyond their natural lifespan. In the same way, some might argue that video recordings are important tool in maintaining a record of Black lives and the trauma Black people suffer.

In “The Tradition,” however, the Black men viewing the video are watching the tape on fast forward, emphasizing how quickly the flowers die—and how easily a person’s life can be breezed through in a short video clip. Recordings of Black lives—and deaths—are a particularly sensitive topic. Just as the men in the poem review a short clip of their own metaphorical deaths, so Black Americans are constantly exposed to recordings of violence against Black people in the media.