I have recently found a poet whom I am can’t believe I have lived without until now. Her name is Mona Lisa Saloy. I read Dr. Saloy and something opens inside me. So good, so very good!
God Was Willing Sis: I’m Home
Rebuilt our little shotgun house Daddy bought for $2000 on the G.I. Bill Post-WWII in the 7th Ward. Wide enough to love two families at a time, double, Long & wide like a bulldog, stocky with a sturdy gait Seemingly indestructible With turn-of-the-century Plaster & lath between walls held by red-brick fireplaces Anchors for kin to hold on to Steady, outlasting many storms From Betsy to Camille, hurricanes that came & Went like occasional visitors who Overstay their welcome. Here, we saved every book we ever had from Old Bibles listing births, marriages, Deaths, to Sherlock Holmes & Harvard Classics, Two dictionaries American Heritage & Webster’s, plus The American Peoples Encyclopedia, That answered questions Daddy or Mother couldn’t from newspapers: The States Item, but especially The Louisiana Weekly Where Negroes had starring roles as newly married or Debuted, or swimmers medaled in photos with their Part-time coaches, who were full-time teachers like Vic Vavassaur, with their own kids too Who spent summers, Saturdays & after-school time Teaching us regulation sports from Baseball, football, swimming to supervised play, where We were all a team, & neighbors & Grudges never lasted more than an hour or No longer than a busted Lip that’s gone when the swelling fades & Heals like our sunburns & Summers between thundershowers We see coming blocks away Our shot-gun castle Our guardian of refuge from those Jim Crow days in our 7th Ward Neighborhood When we had all we needed for comfort, & summer fun of Shaved ice or hucklebucks, & Winters without cold & No gunshots.
I ‘ve been a subscriber to Poet.org’s “Poem of the Day,” and I have to say a huge thank to the team who put this together. They are the one’s who facilitated my introduction to Mona Lisa Saloy. Y’all continue to guide me to writers whom I didn’t even know I needed, and now I can’t imagine living without. Thank you.
Peace, dwight
“God Was Willing Sis: I’m Home”
