Family Ties
Came up quick like biscuit mix, instant grits and grand-mama's shrimp,
fried in cast iron skillets
boiling chitterlings
weening little ones with pennies and brandy
pullin out bones that tender gums can’t stand from their bits of catfish
step up to sit down on big mama's mattress
kissing her goodnight
telling her goodbye before the last time she shuts her eyes
I am amassed of Masses and the will of Wilson's
the heart of Carters and the depth of Wells
Draine's and Parker's
Reverends and authors
unruly daughters over worked fathers
mother's who bother very little with bottles of perfume
children toddle through every room
Except the room where little sister was lost
swear you get cold soon as you pass the threshold
so some boundaries don't get crossed
precious life laid at the cross
born by our family ties and the cost of time is more valued and less available
As the years go by
It seems that we are nothing special most times
but together we shine like the diamonds clustered on the finger of my mother's hand
beckoning me home again
like Sankofa to the motherland
so close knitted we fitted to show all the swells and dips of our make up
take up raising each others children
tend open soars and coax a healin'
from understanding the strength of God
and if you gone cry go outside
let your tears water the sod
and let your pain produce fruit too
let the bittersweet infuse
the meat, the seeds, the juice
call it your spoonful to help this medicine go down
if you keep your head to the sky
you wont notice the weight of the crown you wear
the worries of the burdens we bear cause
we all we got, like it or not
our collective, however previously neglected
doesn't work with out all our affection infecting every broken section
we reflecting like a corrective mirror
Where blemishes disappear
we use pro activ lovin
its the salve we rub in
while pullin cornbread from the oven so sweet it taste like cake
Granddaddy couldn't read but studied his word every day
and naw, daddy don't have much to say
but his actions impacted and inhabit three daughters a father
can always be proud of
we are the power, we are god in this hour, how the most high defines time
Big mama say we are the future and the finest prize she'll leave behind
mama wears her costume broaches, daddy make her salmon croquettes
i wrap myself in her patchwork quilt
breath deep gather lasting remnants of her scent
Begging for her presence in desperate moments when my measure of a woman falls short of the mark
when i am alone in the dark i remember I am Clara's heart
keeper of family secrets & recipes passed down like the slant in my eyes when my father smiles
I know the danger of women born wild
I know the sizzle of hot bullet through warm skin
I know the prayers and the psalms that pull breathe back in
When life is leaving, I know the speakings of interceding
Succeeding when they can't find the answer
I know the off putting sarcasm,
slick shit talking back water banter
undeniable southern manner
So ain't no room for foolin,
Aint but one God for ruling,
and a charge to keep till that great day in the morning
Big Mama say that day is coming,
I wanna tell her that day is here
On this great getting up this morning
I wake up with NO fear
I live with no shame
Wild woman untamed
Mother my first name
Father my foundation
Brick house in the making
waiting on many mansions
provision in expansion
Abundance for my family
amassed of Mass's , Wilson’s
Carters, Millenders, Parkers, Draines and Wells
Our cups, our depths are filled
And we are running over