Deb,
I read this poem three times and got a little more from it each time. It was
worth the re-reading as there is so much in it. Lots of good phrases , such
as "bits of foil and granite gave me solace" How true that adults often have
a hidden aggendum which children come to know before their parents realise
it. One suggestion. How about at least one stanza break midway. eg between
"was what she meant" and "i remembered that sign,"
Colin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Russell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 5:21 PM
Subject: What She Meant...
> What She Meant
>
> i remember
> lime yellow foam -
> lapping at the grass,
> like a mad dog
> and noticing stagnate thick films -
> turquoise, varigated with halos
> of pink and yellows -
> how it spread, slowly
> on the surface, of the Nanticoke,
> when i disturbed it with stones
> i was young, but nearly twelve
> there was no place to be, except there.
> all the best places were overtaken
> with the stench of dying grass
> and trash -
> shards of sun-captured brown,
> blue and green glass, small
> bits of foil and granite
> gave me solace -
> some glitter, in my daydreams
> of an end or beginning.
> you aren't allowed to play
> with James, mother had said.
> you are much to old to play
> with boys...
> i knew what she didn't say
> was what she meant.
> i remembered that sign,
> as i did sometimes,
> the one that hung on a
> restaurant door, in Georgetown.
> mother had decided
> to stop, 'for a quick bite'.
> it was one of the first signs
> (with 'big' words)
> that i could read.
> i was six, but the words burned
> deep and red
> into other years.
> the block letters read:
> coloured people,
> not allowed
> at the lunch counter!
> the exclamation point
> frightened me -
> i remembered asking mother,
> what colours were allowed
>
> i guess that's when
> i learned,
> what she didn't say
> was what she meant.
>
> deborah russell
>
>
>
>
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