study of brown

three chosen sisters smile

in the foreground

in the background

awning. trees.

in the foreground

their smiles are what they can stand on

gaping branches

undetermined fruit

their smiles are what they can stand on

their arms around each other

everything is possible

they are yet holding and held

their arms around each other

they make a bright study of brown

they are yet holding held

and still alive

they make a bright study of brown

three

chosen 

sisters 

smiling

still

alive

in the back 

ground

(This poem is for three of my brilliant beautiful Aunties. Aunt Andie, Aunt Carol and Aunt Mary are three of my mama’s closest sister-friend from college. Aunt Mary is actually the person who introduced my parents to each other while she was in law school with my dad. There are a lot of meanings of “brown” in this poem. A supreme court decision. My Aunties, Andria Hall—noted writer and journalist, Carol Black-Lemon—award-winning visual artist and Mary Butler—accomplished lawyer are brilliant Black women born in the 1950s who achieved their dreams with greater access than their parents to educational opportunities and support. The ground of my existence. These three women are part of the foundation of my life as a person with the benefit of always being surrounded by Black women who gracefully lived into their creative, intellectual and professional talents. The ground itself. Both my Aunt Andie and my Aunt Mary are ancestors now and the pantoum form I use here falls apart as I witness the joy and possibility of these three young women against a background that also includes death and my longing for their presence. So this poem is also for anyone holding both grief and gratitude for the folks who have made our lives possible.)