Footprints of the Elders
Footprints of the Elders: This poem is dedicated to the elder women who have laid down their footprints so that I may find the way.
I come from a line of women
who bounced babies and balanced budgets at the kitchen table
so that I could study theory and debate ideas
in college classrooms.
I come from a line of women
that know the taste of tears
and meals seasoned with sacrifice
my best life is only an unfitting offering
placed at my grandmother’s feet.
This work is for more than me.
It is for the heroines who planted little girls
and grew strong women.
Say their names with honor lining your throat
and reverence on your tongue
Gertie Mae
Gloria
Stella
Patricia
Coleta
Arlene
Marilyn
Angella
Brenda Joyce
When you wrap your lips around my success
don’t forget to mention the names of the women who held me under their tongues at prayer time
Women who worked tirelessly under the sun
and worried only beneath the moonlight.
Be sure to mention the women who whispered
oak tree wisdom and spoke life to my future
from deep roots
I did not get here alone
I am the product of a long line of women
who gathered
who cared
who waited
who corrected
who toiled
who taught
who prayed
who learned
who spoke
who sowed
who listened
women who know what it is like to be both promise and flesh.
You’ve fixed your eyes on this life of mine
like the finished product is all there is to the story
look closer
and you will see those that came before me
and left lessons like breadcrumbs
for me to follow one unsteady footstep at a time.