Myra Jefferson

When you let go it shouldn't be from exasperation or futility
You let go still maintaining hope for other possibilities
When you let go you know the reason
That it's the season
...

I woke up this morning
With another man's child drooling on my arm
...

Embedded in the rich, dark soil of history
My roots are still a part of me
Nourishing me, spurning me on Making me face another dawn
Of uncertainty
...

Red was my Mama
They called me Little Red
Sometimes I think I see her
But it's just my reflection instead
...

I am totally and completely in awe of them
These two dimensional forms and figures
These variations in sound waves
The power they possess is beyond my comprehension
...

Hello Miss, would you like to
Before you go on, no thank you
But did you know, and may I show
That's okay, thanks anyway
...

Your voice is your voice, so speak
Your voice is your voice, small but not weak
Your voice is strong enough to carry a message
Too heavy for a heart to hold
...

If you don't get me, then you don't get me, you get me?
You should get me from the cover,
from the front or the back.
Okay, maybe at the dedication or the thank yous. If not,
...

The team moved to a different state
without me
But I made it anyway-late
Apparently
...

Take the shackles off my feet
Mary Mary said
But I'm with Pete
Not just my feet
...

What a
Stupid man
He ran out here with a
Stupid grin on his face
...

I'm building this house to my own specs
It's mine, all mine last time I checked
I'm the one who lives here, you're only a guest
I determine the time, I determine the day
...

shame how some folks let those three party poopers
keep her from hanging out
much better friend than they are without a doubt
Insecurity, Greed, and Jealousy leave you smelling foul
...

Baby, Baby where are you?
Is this the best that we can do?
I promised you that we would play
As soon as I got a vacation day
...

Bashful Ben and benevolent Barbara began a boring betrothal.
But after Benji's birth Big Ben was boisterously banished.
Big Ben and Benji became best buddies by belting blues ballads, belching bean burritos, bouncing basketballs, and benign buffoonery.
Big Ben began bringing Barbara Brooks' baby boy back by bedtime, beaming but bedraggled.
...

I objected voraciously
Argued vehemently
Reasoned pointlessly
Campaigned feverishly
...

I meant what I said I know what I mean
I need to get out I don't mind being seen
Doing what I do
I'm me and just me
...

So I'm your other daughter
Although I was born first
Now I come in third, fourth, or even worse
place on a shelf completely out of view
...

Inside out, outside in, the end is where you must begin
The found are lost, the brave don't know
The cowards show the way to go
The rich are poor, the poor have wealth
...

I'm listening, I'm listening what else can I do?
Responding is harmful, reacting is too
My face betrays me, it doesn't understand
I can't jump in, I have no where to land
...