My Elders on my mother side were very close kin.
\nClose enough for me to write this poem about them.
\nAs a child we gathered for all types of occasions.<\/p>\n
Aunt Bertha was the eldest, she would shush us to go away.
\nshe’d shout, “go sit down yonder,” was her favorite phase.
\nOff my sister, Karen and I would go into the den.<\/p>\n
We were waiting for that Sunday dinner with all the great recipes,
\nThere was speckled butter beans, roast and a pie that made my eyes glow.<\/p>\n
My grandma usually made a homemade coconut cake that was the talk of the town.
\nWhen those sister sang in the choir at Wadsworth, Church of God. Heaven came down.
\nI look at pictures of the family that I never seen before, I remember them talking about.
\nThere grandma Nin. <\/p>\n
I have one picture of grandma Nin, papa Wm Bryant’s mother.
\nShe was born in 1855 form South Carolina, on into Mississippi, by covered wagon.
\nThat’s where the first seven or eight children were born.<\/p>\n
Now, that I am older. I am the elder and I gather with the elders.
\nWe worship together and create our community’s haven.
\nWe must affirm our heritage and edify our people. <\/p>\n
We have come a long way, but have so far to grow and go.
\nThat’s ok because instilled in me is a faith that I must follow.
\nAmira Baraka, bids us to come, men women, child. <\/p>\n
The elders always sit in a special seat.
\nThey gave permission for us to speak.
\nI understand the importance of carrying on our traditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My Elders on my mother side were very close kin. Close enough for me to write this poem about them. As a child we gathered for all types of occasions. Aunt Bertha was the eldest, she would shush us to go away. she’d shout, “go…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem","category-miscellaneous","category-poetry-prompt-responses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116407"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116645,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116407\/revisions\/116645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}