| Black Jesus
I sat White dress with little black triangles Prim and proper The 80's were a time of prim and proper children And I was ready for my close up But before that I remember walking through Aunty Ruth and Great Grandma Ivory's living room Hypnotized by the giant portrait of Black Jesus Hair long and dark brown Arms welcoming, face calm and loving Light shining from the back of his head A wreath of sun and glory and majesty Taking me away from the noise of the outside world And bringing me to peace We got ready that day to take our pictures at Sears Little Brother and I dressed in our finest To make a good impression on the photographer And to make Aunty Ruth proud I can’t remember if we were back in NYC or still in Louisiana It's where we had been for a while And smiling was still hard sometimes Just like calling Aunty Ruth my mommy was hard Since she forged the papers to get us into school down south. Or maybe I’m getting my times messed up Sears was when I was 4 I remember posing, Hamzeh sitting in front of me His black sweater with its wavy patterns scratching against my bare arms My long curly hair resting down my back and along my shoulders Smiling for the camera Sears had never seen such well behaved colored kids Never I remember us going to the drive-thru at Burger Kind afterwards And getting a ketchup stain on my dress that never came out And seeing those pictures from that day On the table near the Black Jesus in my family's house. |