Concurrence
This article originally appeared in Southern Exposure Vol. 3 No. 1, "Southern Black Utterances Today." Find more from that issue here.
Early
reddening day —
my blue old grandfather lowers himself
into the river
and bathes.
His bones are brittle,
and they crack when he bends.
Rushing from northern valleys,
the river slows,
mindful of this recurrent rite.
My blue old grandfather
is a humble man.
He understands the river's loneliness.
Single moments after
the river resumes its journey,
releasing the cleanness of pine tar, a soap.
And the vapors of union, cooling,
rise
as a fog.
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Susan Dorsey
Susan Dorsey is a member of the Southern University Writers Workshop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (1975)