A polyphonic new entry in Multiverseâa literary series written and curated by the neurodivergentâJJJJJerome Ellisâs Aster of Ceremonies beautifully extends the vision of his debut book and album, The Clearing, a âlyrical celebration of and inquiry into the intersections of blackness, music, and disabled speechâ (Claudia Rankine). Aster of Ceremonies asks what rites we need now and how poetry, astir in the asters, can help them along. What is the relationship between fleeing and feeling? How can the voices of those who came beforeâand the stutters that leaven those voicesâcarry into our present moment, mingling with our own? When Ellis writes, âBring me the stolen will / Bring me the stolen well,â his voice is a conduit, his âmeâ is many. Through the grateful invocations of ancestorsâHannah, Mariah, Kit, Jan, and othersâand their songs, he rewrites history, creating a world that blooms backward, reimagining what it means for Black and disabled people to have taken, and to continue to take, their freedom. By weaving a chorus of voices past and present, Ellis counters the attack of âall masters of all vesselsâ and replaces it with a family of flowers. He models howâas with his brilliant transduction of escaped slave advertisementsâwe might proclaim lost ownership over literature and history. âBring me to the well,â he chants, implores, channels. âBring me to me.â In this bringing, in this singing, he proclaims our collective belonging to shared worlds where we can gather and heal.