Poetry Corner
I am a Black Woman, by Marie Evans
I am a black woman
the music of my song
some sweet arpeggio of tears
is written in a minor key
and I can be heard humming in the night
Can be heard humming in the night
I saw my mate leap screaming to the sea
and I/with these hands/cupped the life breath
from my issue in the canebrake
I lost Nat’s swinging body in a rain of tears
and heard my son scream all the way from Anzio
for Peace he never knew….I learned Da Nang
and Pork Chop Hill in anguish
Now my nostrils know the gas
and these trigger tire/d fingers
seek the softness in my warrior’s beard
I am a black woman tall as a cypress strong
beyond all definition still defying place and time
and circumstance
assailed impervious indestructible. Look on me
and be renewed