Jasmine

Jasmine
May It Be Said of Me
© 2009 by Alice Walker
May it be said of me
That when I saw
Your mud hut
I remembered
My shack.
That when I tasted your
Pebble filled beans
I recalled
My salt pork.
That when I saw
Your twisted Limbs
I embraced
My wounded
Sight.
That when you
Rose from  your knees
And stood
Like women
And  men
Of this Earth-
As promised  to us
As to anyone:
Without regrets
Of  any kind
I joined  you-
Singing.
***

And Do you See What They Have Bought With It?

@2009 by Alice Walker
You have bought
Foolish hats
From madmen
In Paris
You have bought
Shoes
You never
Intend to wear
You have
Bought
Cars for
Each day
Of
The week.
You ride
Faster than
Our donkeys
Can
Think;
Splashed with
The perfume
of our mothers’
Tears.
On
Television
You appear
In all your
Innocence
Wearing the spectacles
Whose frames
Our turtles
Unwillingly
Donated to you
With their
Shells
You speak
About our danger
To you
Our anger
And envy
And greed.
You are genuinely surprised to see us
Not only standing
But even more
Mysteriously
Armed, absolutely,
With the graceful
Power
Of speech.
But we were busy
In those shacks
&
Mud huts
Before dark;
Before the mosquitoes
Drove us
From our books.
We know
What you take
From us
And what
Useless things
-never love or peace or happiness –
You buy
With it.
***
From: The world Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness Into Flowers (a work in progress) ©2011 by Alice Walker