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 Marshall 

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