Friday, June 24, 2011

Brother

    
Brother

Momma's son
Daddy's namesake
My brother

we grew up together
crossed the same ocean
sowed the same field
fought the same Master
as we ran towards freedom

please don't leave me now!

Momma's son
Daddy's namesake
My brother

I love you
we grew up together
Picking Cotton
learning to read
running from the whippings
lynchings
stones and bullets

Together we learned to survive
as we marched towards freedom

please don't leave me now!

Momma's son
Daddy's namesake
My brother

I need you as much today
as I did when they first
came to our harbor and
took our Momma away

My brother
I love you as much
today as I did when
they came to the Plantation
and sold our
Daddy away

please don't leave me now!

Momma's son
Daddy's namesake

you are all 
I have left
in the world

please don't leave me now!

take my hand as
you did when we played
Together

Let's walk onto freedom!

(C) by Niobe Marshall


For My Mother

Sunday mornings
Chicken grease a'popping
Macaroni and cheese melting
While the siblings three
Dressed like dainty queens 
Went off to Sunday School
With a nickel, dime or
Quarter to split between
God and gum

It wasn't easy 
But neither
Was it easy for you 
To wear cardboard in your shoes
So that on
Sunday mornings
Chicken grease could pop
Macaroni and cheese could melt
Blending good odors

Oh, I remember and 
This is to thank you
For feeling we were worth it

Now I have mine
They may not go to Sunday School
I may get by
Not having to pad my shoes
With cardboard
But know this: I love you
Thank you for helping me grow
Knowing  your own are always worth it

Sunday mornings
Chicken grease a'popping
Macaroni and cheese melting
Blending good odors
Brings back good memories

(C) by Niobe Marshal


I see a child 

i see a child who wants
to speed forward
grow upward

i see a child
educating himself
on street corners

to educators in the
classroom he
is invisible

i see a child
crying in  the street

i see a child becoming a
parent to a child
looking for the
comfort that

"now someone will love me"

i see a child
being raped in
america's great melting pot

we pretend not to see
this child
to recognize his existence
we reveal our helplessness
to correct his situation

so we see this child
and pretend his invisibility
to shadow our impotence

copyrighted  by Niobe Marshall

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