Bones of Contention – Wanda Coleman
for Lois, deceased
he described you as a cracker battle axe
but the woman i met was thin and haint-like
i spoke to you as little as one can speak
to an in-law and get along
as did you
we never called one another by name
converse for the sake of function
biding, tolerant
whenever the three of us sat down together
he preached his gospel of civil rights
you silent, as was i
wishing he would let us be-each in her own distance
and as the social pressures of our miscegnation
ate away love
i tried to make him understand
the dangers
the whip has bitten into the back of the slave
clean through to the heart
sing dixie
wave the stars & bars
our marriage decomposed into a gangrenous animosity
no understanding-black or white
six years after divorce he called long distance
you were dying of colon cancer
your last wish
to see your grandchildren
he begged me to send the kids
i said no
and he will never understand
(excerpted from African Sleeping Sickness: Stories and Poems
Related Links:
What the Gin Rummy Queen Taught Me (poem)
Bedtime Story (poem)
Diary of a mad reader 