praise song
you woman tree woman one
swaying to unheard of winds uninvented air streams
you woman sky with palms broad enough to hold eqypt
who taught me to walk
slow and deliberate
like i had somewhere to go
who taught me stories
that needed telling
to love men and women who needed
who taught me to fetch life
out of the depths of rivers
taught me the words
that the tree branches sang to wake
the sun and bring morning home
who taught me to love loving
with my eyes wide open
who taught me to dance and smile
in rhythm
to clap with an open heart
From Breath of the Song: New and Selected Poems (Carolina Wren Press, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Jaki Shelton Green. Used with the permission of the author.
Jaki Shelton Green
Jaki Shelton Green is the author of eight collections, including I Want to Undie You (Jacar Press, 2017). In 2019, Green was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. She currently teaches documentary poetry at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and serves as the poet laureate of North Carolina.