Beautiful English

I don't speak beautiful English
like all of you
she says
in sing song syllables
and breathtaking conjugation

Her eyes are rivers
her mouth the moon
she crosses the lands of her life
with stage presence
pirouette, demi-plié,
turn
sing, dance
beautiful
bella

gratzi


her mother tongue glides deafly as it
dances
swiftly as the coming moonlight
It is a hard love; ethereal, ethiopian
come from little, but made it into much
the stuff that Jesus taught with the fish that fed five thousand
This dream gives to all who are hungry
a mother could not read or write but made art
and built a business they said she would never
regal, persistent and clever

and yet,he scarred her heart
colored her Easter Sunday
with scarlet letters
this evil man has taken her mother
a careless thought
from a shriveled heart

and yet, God keeps.

For the pain she bore so deep
and for so long
the "I never told you to tell" song
echoes into cavernous ears
awakening;

we see her
bright and gleaming
aching to act
stretched upon the screen
as another tries to unloose her dream
from its jar
by placing the lid on
the daughter of the country of the sun
said he wanted to make her the only one
and marked her
with the lit reality

she and baby flee
seek safety in the arms of
mama Italy
wander the soul of a world
knocking at each window
looking for someone to take them in
willing to work to win

and still,
God keeps

For one day as she sleeps
in a room of her own
she dreams of more
finds America in her heart
living in one room
working day and night
to open the door of the world for her son
for $6.75 she is the only one
bronzed beautiful siren
amidst wooden floors and tea lights
in a quaint Italian spot
she serves people from her heart
she shines in the light of a golden glow
usually reserved for old women;
it is wisdom and joy in living
and oh how her works touch

because when the business is
ready to be sold,
they ask her,
a the beautiful brown single mother
to assume her role
as keeper of the dream.

where will you go, her customers ask?
And then, an offer,
he loans her the means to glean the dream
and she agrees
will pay him back in four years

she does it in 13 months.


and still God Keeps


Her words dance and shine
more beautiful than a fluent speaker
because she means them
because she is them
she is Pisa, never falling
because,
she brings the good news
to others with brown girl blues
beautiful blue English painting
the sky
the color of moon

Yes, God keeps.