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Aunt Dorothy by Eric Nunnally

 

Flower. Yellow flower.
Bright: the sun and warm;
full of love...
No - daisy. Yes, joy: daisy.
Bright: the sun and as warm;
full of love...
Funny. a dandelion too.
Strong as a dandelion
Bright as the sun and as warm;
full of love...

ii

Me and my brother are yellow.
She used to pull our ears,
" C'mere, heads."

Dandy lions wear huge manes
Me and my brother had afros
" C'mere, heads."
Me and my brother meddled alot
Yellow puppies acting up
" C'mere, heads."

She has a son named Christopher
Chris is older than me and my brother
He would beat us up when he was bored
Then make popcorn with yellow cheese
so we would forget
he beat us up.

She had a dog named Oscar
She had a man named Oscar first
Me and my brother used to let
Oscar lick Country Time lemonade
powder from our hands
Oscar, the dog.

She had a cat named Boo
or was it Blackie
it was a black cat
and always hid under the couch
away from us
Dandelions.

iv

Budweiser, Old Style, Schlitz
And cigarettes
Chitt'lins, greens, macaroni
and cheese

Plastic covers on the couch
Spreads tucked on the chairs.
Church calendars
Yellow chicks on Easter

Candy bowls and peppermints
Pictures, pictures, pictures
Tapes, tapes, tapes
and family, lots of family

v

She smoked alot, never really paid attention
'cept to leave the room 'cause o' the smoke.
The lamp shades were yellow in the front room
I think the walls were yellow too
from the lamps

She could cook up some chitt'lins
Big pot would stink up her kitchen
on Christmas or Thanksgiving or Labor Day or Memorial Day
or any day the family got together
at her house
Almost all the time
Those were yellow times
Warm and full of love...

She took all the pictures anyone could want
though she was forever cuttin off heads
Dandelions.
had ev'ry church service on tape too
always recordin'; griot of the family.

There was always a bowl of candy for
me and my brother to raid
Butterscotch didn't sit long
in my brother's pocket

She used to get mad when she got upset
Cussin' and fussin'
They was in the wrong though
An' she saw it
Her eyes were slightly yellowed
but warm and full of love...

My brother and I carried her to the car
after the gathering at my Granmother's
She sat in our arms protesting
'cause she was embarrassed
My brother carried her respirator.
The hazards should have been on.

I cried in the hospital at her bedside
Her body was working hard with the liquid oxygen
Her hand wasn't the same - fragile; her skin.
Her eyes were cloudy, I kissed her, hoping -
She was bigger, but smaller and paler...
The curtain was yellow.

No more lungs when she passed away
The smoke had wilted my flower
I remembered:
There were yellow balloons on New Years
that night we spent the night and watched T.V.
Peaches and Herbs sang later,
"You don't have to be a star..."

vi

The sun is yellow, I think.
Couldn't tell at the funeral.
It was raining on the carnations -
soft but still bright as the sun
not as warm but still

1991



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