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HARRIET

Harriet there was always somebody calling us crazy

or mean or stuck-up or evil or black

or black

and we were

nappy girls quick as cuttlefish

scurrying for cover

trying to speak trying to speak

trying to speak

the pain in each others mouths

until we learned

on the edge of a lash

or a tongue

on the edge of the other's betrayal

that respect

meant keeping our distance

in silence

averting our eyes

from each other's face in the street

from the beautiful dark mouth

and cautious familiar eyes

passing alone.

I remember you Harriet

before we were broken apart

we dreamed the crossed swords

of warrior queens

while we avoided each other's eyes

and we learned to know lonely

as the earth learns to know dead

Harriet Harriet

what name shall we call our selves now

our mother is gone?