“The Sterling Silver Mirror”
PoemsNo matter how the wind and the stars carried the newsThe slaves knewSherman was comingAll they had to do was wait:As they sang the Spiritual “Why can’t I Wait on the Lord?”They had the patience to know He may not comeWhen you call HimBut He always comes on timeMy great great grandmother was a slave holding insideHer the first of our family to be bornFreeSherman came burning the hateAnd greed freeing my ancestorsMy great great grandmother who had never seen her own faceCarried her free baby and a sterling silver hand mirror awayCornelia whom we called MamaDear was the firstTo be born freeMamaDear married Watson and birthedThree sons and a daughterMamaDear gave her youngest son the sterling silver mirrorWhen he graduated from Fisk UniversityWe forget the enslaved had no way of knowingWhat they looked like except through the eyes of those who loved themThe men had no shoes to wear other than their feet became leatherBoth were preciousGrandpapa had shoes and the mirrorSome in the family sayThe mirror was stolenBut how can you steal when you wereWhen I left my parents’ home I was the youngest daughter I took onlyTwo things:A diamond pendant Sister Althea gave me for eighth grade graduationAnd The Sterling Silver Hand MirrorI am 81 years old: I have both stillThis is drawn from “The New Book.”
No matter how the wind and the stars carried the news
The slaves knew
Sherman was coming
All they had to do was wait:
As they sang the Spiritual “Why can’t I Wait on the Lord?”
They had the patience to know He may not come
When you call Him
But He always comes on time
My great great grandmother was a slave holding inside
Her the first of our family to be born
Free
Sherman came burning the hate
And greed freeing my ancestors
My great great grandmother who had never seen her own face
Carried her free baby and a sterling silver hand mirror away
Cornelia whom we called MamaDear was the first
To be born free
MamaDear married Watson and birthed
Three sons and a daughter
MamaDear gave her youngest son the sterling silver mirror
When he graduated from Fisk University
We forget the enslaved had no way of knowing
What they looked like except through the eyes of those who loved them
The men had no shoes to wear other than their feet became leather
Both were precious
Grandpapa had shoes and the mirror
Some in the family say
The mirror was stolen
But how can you steal when you were
When I left my parents’ home I was the youngest daughter I took only
Two things:
A diamond pendant Sister Althea gave me for eighth grade graduation
And The Sterling Silver Hand Mirror
I am 81 years old: I have both still
This is drawn from “The New Book.”
