Picture Ming Smith, Girl in Church

Boy you can always tell when his birth comes round
Kids running and screaming school is out
momma yells,
“Cee Cee come in from that yard leave them chickens lone
get on in this here kitchen got ta gets that head done”
Women gather in the kitchen spewing the gossip of the days
Cigarettes on table, drinks in hand
Me sitting ashy knees wit my back to the stove
Towel round my neck
Grease on table rolled up tissue too
Naps popping to laughs as Sister talk about
Emma Jean letting that no good Burnadette in to here home
Knowing how her man likes to roam
And Coco got caught by her daddy round back of the house
And he put her out
Vanessa waiting in line wide eyed cause this her first time
Being straighten and curled by momma
Charmine got the iron board blazing with my brothers and daddy white shirts for
Tomorrow
Stockings and bows and uncle joe
Well he out back on the steps
Hollering bout all the racket us women folks are keeping up
(even though I can’t open my mouth lessin I’m spoken to)
Momma done warned us bout keeping out of grown folks business
he got his bottle in hand saying momma and nim wrong
got us going to the church with all that carrying on
Jesus ain’t know white man!
If momma didn’t have to keep the door open
And she say if us children whatin round
She’d break him off a new one
And Big Jesse runs him on off
Like always he scare of Big Jesse reminds him of Madea
Scarf tied down rollers on tight ponytails
Don’t want to admit it to lamont, brian, terrance and nim
But I’m excited to put on shiny new shoes wit new stockings
And a new dress dat daddy brought with his check
(We all got something new)
and celebrate his birth
which I don’t know why
he had to die like that….but I guess when I get older I’ll know