Just As She Was - a Tribute To Cicely Tyson
Just a wisp of a girl, dainty as a rose
Dark as the color of bitter-sweet cocoa
From her short hair to her perky nose
A black queen from the Big Apple’s ghetto
As a girl, she often sucked her fingers
Obtaining that infamous, toothy overbite
The memory of the dirty slums still lingers
So gracious, sweet, and habitually polite
She got pregnant at the age of seventeen
Yet, she pursued her dream to be an actress
Mama’s church girl, spiritually quarantined
She loved to model; her beauty was breathless
Why did we applaud her? Why do you ask me?
Her dossier was unmatched and acclaimed
Such an urban legend from our community
Much respect and props for her notable name
She began her career on the New York stage
Put her heart and soul into each role she played
Drank from the youth fountain didn’t look her age
In these glorious years, her career never decayed
“A Woman Called Moses”; don’t forget “Sounder!”
“The River Niger,” we won’t ever forget “Roots!”
A club for growing black actors, she was the founder
Presidential Medal of Freedom, she bore much fruit
“The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman” was fearless
Having a guest role in many Tyler Perry movies
With her prodigious acting, only she could harness
Held her nose when asked to play ratchet or a floozy
She scorched the earth for other black actresses
Angela Bassets and Viola Davis, to name a few
Never bad press or scandal as anyone’s mistress
When she passed away, still giving interviews
Her biography hit the streets, fresh off the press
Traveled to promote her school of Performing Arts
Still worked and spoke while impeccably dressed
My Lord did she not have a run, never a false start
You can’t tell it! So let me tell it; made “Just as I Am!”
Had a chance to tell HER story many she out-lived
Elegant, royal; she was worth the title of madam
Although so petite, Cicely's career was so massive
Copyright © Carolyn June-Jackson | Year Posted 2022
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