Читать книгу Vessel - Parneshia Jones - Страница 8

GIRL

Cocoa butter knees dancing

between two brotherly roads,

daydreaming, pretend out loud

Girl.

Singing off-key, flowing T-shirt hair,

microphone brush and missing front teeth.

Jackson 5, Culture Club, Whitney Houston,

Deniece Williams back up the deep-

voiced, juke joint, Midwestern-raised

Girl.

Catfish, crab legs, and chitlins

served on three-generation China.

Great Lakes, mason jars, fried pies,

and Mary Jane–wearing Girl.

Stained glass Sundays, training wheels,

wind, and a wide nose, thick plait, nappy back,

dimple in each cheek Girl.

Heiress of big legs, triple hip,

raised eyebrow, silver dollars,

dusty maps, and a diamond bracelet

Papa gave the day you graduated

eighth grade, and he said young lady

but hugged you like his little

Girl.

The only daughter

of an only daughter left;

the keeper of ash and memory,

curtsies and curiosity,

Easter poems, skinned knees,

polyester, silk, and calamity

Girl

stays close, superstitious,

sassy and studied.

Know better in your gathered years

of woman, grown, change-filled

coffee cans, kitten heels, cat calls,

and collateral, Girl is forever.

Let that Girl settle between new grays,

laugh-out-loud lines, and the sand

of her hourglass filling with fierce

each newborn day.

Girl stays forever.