Places To Go
for B.J.

woman in black dress
warm woman, woman to caress

artist like the rest of us
we look shabby, she looks like success
looks like income
most of us, receiving none

envy not
symbol of where we can go
what we too can be
we too can grow
woman in a black dress
elegant as could be
so very happy

I feel fabulous just to see her
embrace her, I 'm wealthy
happy beyond words
imagine me with her to hold
with her to hold old me

new spirit, new voice, our verse
one spring

her voice tied to
Billy Holiday, Ma Rainy
Bessie Smith, Nina Simone
Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight
the Pips

body for fame, flame burns in fame

she has a history, she’s tied to it
trial by fire, she’s been through it,
young as she is, going through it
not being harmed
Abednego and his brothers
are her brothers too

able to relate to her
art speaks one language
one tongue between them
to tell their story

her black dress hanging
while we got acquainted
got sweaty, showered
took vacation on mars,
in Milan, in Madrid, on Long Island

is she a Cat Island gal
or a girl from South Andros,
catcher of crabs
with net in her back yard
to gather in bone fish
in schools from the flats


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2007
4:08 a.m. 06.09.07