Early in de morning she fry him plantain
to eat wit he long bread, guava jelly, an tea.
She bring it to he as he sit tall on de chair
in front de telly. Den she wake de kids
and ready dem for school. Comb dey
hair, pack dey bag, an fix dey breakfast plate
before de bus come tek dem away.
Husband vex ‘cause de bread too tough
an tea grow cold, nat sweet anyway.
He gather he self for work an rush
out de door. While de house empty
she clean de floors, wash de clothes,
den tek de good book out to praise de Lord.
She tank Him for de new day, de house,
her beautiful chilren dat bore
from de wrong man. She close
de book an return to de work,
all de while singing ‘amazin grace.’
Contributor Notes
Erika Jeffers’s poetry and book reviews have appeared in Callaloo, sx salon, Wasafiri Magazine and the online news site, The Big Q online. She holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
