Cheryl Boyce-Taylor
In Her Lingerie Drawer
Five Years Later
In her lingerie drawer
two pearl and crystal hat pins
a black flip phone that says Samsung Verizon
my brother’s blue stained drawings from when he was five
a braid wrapped in decaying thread
chopped off when I was eight
pictures of a strange man sitting on a beach chair
his arms around mommy
grandmother’s neatly folded fruit cake recipe
hairpins in a hard plastic squeeze-em change purse
my son’s first passport
stamped canceled 1975
a torn tithe envelope with two singles inside
five dollars folded in lined paper and a note that says
dear lord, bring my daughter home safe. Thank you Jesus.
bobbins with no thread
my cousin Peggy’s social security card
two scissor halves with the screw missing
faded white cotton gloves with both pinkie fingers gone
a smelly blob of coral lipstick stuck to the tube
a man’s gold plated high school graduation ring
three expired credit cards
a rhinestone pin from LaGuardia hospital that says RN
a box of carbon paper
one thick pair of pantyhose with runs from toe to thigh
and a yellowed letter dated July 26,1970
you’re too young Cheryl, don’t get married
I love you, my only daughter.
{http://www.pw.org/content/cheryl_boyce_taylor_a_poet_is_born?cmnt_all=1}