Lilies

Here, put this on your head, she said.

She handed me a hat to protect me from my curse.

You bout as dark as your daddy,

No need to make it worse.

Aunt Vera rolled up her pants

Showing her honey-colored knees.

And so I rolled my pants up too,

Exposing skin darker than the wood on trees.

The rich soil, as dark as tar,

Felt damp between my bare toes.

When looking at Auntie’s feet there was stark contrast,

Where mine ended and dirt began, no one knows.

Today we’re planting lilies.

You know the rules,

Follow after me girl,

And don’t be a fool.

She kneeled and smoked her cigarette

While weeding with ease and grace.

However, for me,

That wasn’t the case.

In one fluid motion,

She plucked the weeds, roots and all.

Yet when I tried, the earth looked beaten.

Luckily, her back was turned- a close call.

When we were finished,

The garden was a sea of light.

Isn’t it beautiful, she said

To see all that white?