MAMIE'S HANDS by Patricia Biela
Grand-mère, je vois tes mains. Your hands coddle infants nourish your children.
Mamie, je vois tes mains. Your hands interlock God. Rosary beads hang.
Grand-mère, je vois tes mains. Your hands plant mango and bananane.
Mamie, je vois tes mains. Your hands teach poise, strength. My hands wait for yours.
(Virginia, April 25, 2011)
*
MAMA by Suze Baron
Because Mama cannot hear and because she talks nonsense
everytime she opens her mouth Everyone avoids her Everyone
includes my children and me Mama lives with us
Because Grandpa Grandma Unky and Aunty are dead and because
Mama has no whys and wherefores in life she’s lonely very lonely
Grandpa Grandma Unky and Aunty loved Mama They would have
taken time to listen to her when she babbles nonsense they would
have understood
Because they’re dead Mama is left with children who are burdened
by her presence Children she loves and for whom she would still
sacrifice her life
My brothers Fritz and Serge visit every Saturday Fritz brings
drinks and Serge fruits But because they’re busy men they visit in a
hurry
Joseph the oldest used to visit and stay a long time He used to take
Mama to Pinelawn to our sister’s grave He doesn’t do this anymore
It’s something about inheritance Mama didn’t give him the piece of
property he wanted Because Mama is lonely…
*
PIANO TALK by Suze Baron
I heard that piano talk Sista Maggie made that piano talk Them notes got up Them notes got up walked around ’til they found Sista Murray
They went through her soul They went through her mind They went through her body
& started Sista Murray jumpin’ She jumped up an’ down like piano keys stretched out her arms like a preacher preachin’ An’ when she came to She came to like a lover who’s done had some lovin’
*
CREATIVITY: IT HAPPENS, by Suze Baron
For Erika DeRuth
It happens every time in the wee hours of the night when stars sit like men on checkerboards
It happens before the cock-a-doodle-doo of the rooster and ribbit-ribbits of the frog
It happens when darkness shades sections of the earth and all is quiet
Yes that is the time the mind leaves the skull to run wild
It happens every time in the wee hours of the night when lovers kiss caress conceive a child
It happens when the breathing of children blends with the ticking of the cuckoo clock
It happens when the streets are empty and cats in heat sing their songs
Yes that is the time the mind leaves the skull to run wild
It happens every time in the wee hours of the night when the heart grieves rips itself to pieces
It happens when raccoons roam the streets the alleys kill cats eat their kittens
It happens when loas enter heads overtake souls during voodoo dances
Yes that is the time the mind leaves the skull to run wild
*
Suze Baron is Haitian American, former Registered Nurse, and a Family Tree Enthusiast. Her books are at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Patricia Biela is a native of Maryland and is a UVA grad with a BA in Psychology. A first generation American, she is of Angolan and Haitian descent. Biela is a Cave Canem South Fellow and has participated in 18 writing workshops including Callaloo, Cave Canem South, How Writers Write Poetry--International Writing Program-The University of Iowa, Hurston/Wright, Provincetown, and Dr. Tony Medina's Poetry Boot Camp. Her poems appear in Barely South Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, The Caribbean Writer, Drumvoices Revue, and World Haiku Review among others. She has a poem exhibited in Epiphany Salon and Spa, Washington, D.C. Biela has editing experience, and has written over 25 articles, some of which appear in Brainworld Magazine and Funds for Writers—Writing Kid. She is a third generation educator, teaches poetry workshops to retirees, and to other adults. Biela is honored to be in the Duke Young Writers' Camp teaching family. Her poem, "Please Leave a Message" can be found on Apple Music, CD Baby, Google Play, iHeartRadio, iTunes, Napster, Spotify, and more. Biela is also an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and has over 200 students spanning the globe.
