An Elegy for a Family Who was Loved
For Jacqueline, Ainsworth, Drew and Nicole Mallett
By Gwen Russell Green
December 30, 2012

I had the chance to say I love you and I did it
Never knowing it would be my last time to affirm
the kind and gentle spirit of my friend
I had the chance to smile at her son
To fuss and insist on a shirt tucked in
To threaten to call his father
And I would have
And now I never can
Will never have to

I had the chance to answer, “Is Jackie here?”
And to answer, “Not this time…” to a loving husband
I had the chance to tease about carrot cake
one more time
To hear those protests and ignore
With a smile that said to us both that it didn’t matter
What’s a borrowed recipe between two friends?

I had the chance to write to their pride and joy
A college student with great promise
A young woman poised for greatness
Yet unfulfilled
I find some peace in knowing that all they had
Can sustain her through the bitter grief ahead

I’ve had the chance to question why
To understand deep tests of faith
I‘ve had the chance to know their spirits rest
In Heavenly places that I have not known

I’m grateful for this family who could touch
Could touch so many others in their gentle way
 To see a love that mattered be sustained

In life and now in death true love remains

---

We are women of color
of a wild assortment
of shades & hues
we dress in rainbow
    we talk in magic
our hair is less than straight
more than curly / lips are full   
noses wide  & flat
    & our curves 
    are more than ample
we are beauty
beneath the rope of our bellies
civilization snuggled safely
before waking
we need not compete
for we 
are women
of color
                               women of color
                               by Folami Abiade
 

---

the life of a poet, a true poet
is not a day in the park
it can be lonely, isolating & trying
forcing honesty in all the wrong places
all the uncomfortable spaces
 
From "On Losing a Poet:  for R. Aaron"
1998.