If

(for all little girls who dream)

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them how it was.

How it was to grow up a girl child.

A black girl child in amerika.

With all the lessons, spoken & unspoken.

How it was to be told what to do & how to do it.

How it was to hear what others wanted, but never to be asked what you wanted.

How it was (is!) to be a thing, a body, a tool for someone else’s use.

To fulfill their expectations.

I would tell them what it feels like to awaken knowing that there is more.

I would tell them what it is to grow, to reach, to stretch for the sun, the stars, the moon.

To be a part of everything that is spirit.

To be me

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them about me.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

PAPER

Where is that piece of paper, that blue piece of paper?
Or maybe a red piece paper?

That piece of paper that said who I was,
When I was being too many things for too many people,
For too little.

That piece of paper that began something.
Maybe a story, my story. Maybe not the beginning,
But the end.

I look again; I know it’s here.
That piece of paper wants to be found, to be read.
I find it – it’s purple.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

memories

reality, dreams, body, soul
recollection

old, new, forgotten, remembered
reminiscence

mine, yours, too many, none
remembrances

our memoirs
who's memories

©2008 Kim L. Ford

My Return

It's been a minute since I've been here. Had a chance to ask some questions, do some reading & some ruminating. I think I'm ready.

Redemption Songs - Grandmother's Songs

A mixture of old world & new
Jamaican & American
The lilt of an accent
A history lesson taught
both in words & doing

Freedom
America, land of new beginnings
Hopes & dreams, Fulfilled?
What did she know at 16
this giver of comfort, healer of pain

Gospel truth & true gospel
religion & spirituality all in one
Her church was lost to her
She never lost her God

Passing peacefully one evening
Greeting her husband once again
Saying farewell to us all
Visiting me later, at night
Sitting on my bed
Talking, listening

I learned so much from her
Those last months
She said so much
She gave so much

Redemption songs
Grandmother songs
Believe in yourself
What got her through
Gets me through

©2008 Kim L. Ford

First Day

First blog, first post. Well, I've talked about doing this long enough. So here I am. I don't know where it will lead, but I welcome the journey. So there it is. First blog, first post.