Simone
Simone
I’ve yet to see her cry
Or wipe a tear from her eye
Though I’ve seen her dry sweat off her brows
And that fan ain’t nothing
She’s going on sixty-five
Burgundy lipstick stained teeth
Her kiss perched on my cheek
And dark hairs atop her lip
Like mine I wish to erase
Now her eyes are droopy
And flaming red
Grieving her husband’s death
She’s carried loads of laundry on her head
And had company on her bed
Her two daughters,
Are what she has left
She is a social butterfly
And makes us lick our spoons
She is everything to everyone
To me she gave eyes
To the sleepless city
Sparkly ,glittery ,gold
To me she gave
Shimmering stars and moons
wrapped around my wrist
Variant in color, size and shape
In a rural Haitian village
Was I bred and raised
Mango and avocado
weighed heavily upon the earth
It’s nectarous substance
Oozed onto the ground
rotting, attracting flies
Now mere bare hands
And desert land
Bracelets too pretty to wear
On my bare wrist
Small like my maternal mother’s
She’s slowly deteriorating
Her small stature
Matches mine perfectly
Though her protruding bones
And sagging skin
Are evident that she’s yearning for home
Can’t wear that print dress without
getting a few stares
Like who am I to wear designer
Womanly I look
Feminine I feel
As aunt Simone says I must strive to do
Without shame or insecurity
Because her niece is under thirty
And is no grandma to be
But I insist on wearing a black ,
mesh floral lace camisole
to hide my cleavage and a-cup breasts
She is a doll
And pampers herself as much as she can afford
She’s never called me beautiful
But has mentioned that I have no reason to not want to live
Even if I was ugly as my fellow classmates have said
Tough love she gives
But I’m gentle, delicate
Makeup masks my short comings
But I glam up on occasion
Determined to not overdo it
And look like a little girl
Playing in her mother’s cosmetics
Marckincia Jean
Free verse
05/13/20
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