“yeah” she said “my man’s gone too
been dead longer than you is old”
“what do you do” i asked
“sit here on the porch and talk to the old folk
i rock and talk and go to church most times”
“but aren’t you lonely sometimes” i asked
“now you gotta answer yo own question”
“i guess the children help a lot you got grandchildren
haven’t you”
“oh the children they come and go always in a hurry
got something to do ain’t no time for old folks
like me”
she squinted at the sun packing her jaw
with bruton snuff
“the old days done gone…and i say good-bye
peoples be going to the moon and all…ain’t that
wonderful…to the moon”
and i said “i see stars all the time aretha franklin
and sly were at madison square garden recently”
“what you doing here” she asked
“i’m a poet” i said
“that ain’t no reason to be uppity”
and the sun beat down on my head while
a dragonfly admonished my flippancy
but a blue and yellow butterfly sat on my knee
i looked her square in the eye
“i ain’t gonna tell you” she said and turned her head
“ain’t gonna tell me what” i asked
“what you asking me you gotta live to be seventy-nine
fore you could understand anyhow”
“now you being uppity” i said
“yeah but i earned it” she replied and shifting her wad
she clapped her hands and smiled
“you been here before”
and i said “yes ma’am but would you tell me just one thing
what did i learn”
and she spat out her juice
“honey if you don’t know how can i”
i wanted to argue but the sun was too hot and the sky
too lazy and god heaved a sigh that swept under my blouse
and i felt me feeling a feeling
she crossed her legs at the ankle
and straightened her back
“tell you this” she said
“keep yo dress up and yo pants down and you’ll be all right”
and i said impatiently “old lady you got it all wrong”
“honey, ain’t never been wrong yet
you better get back to the city cause you one of them
technical niggers and you’ll have problems here”