#007 Marilyn Nelson, 1989

I've spent the week immersed in the delicious poetry of professor emeritus, author, and 1991 National Book Award finalist, Marilyn Nelson (also published under Marilyn Nelson Waniek). I began my journey into Nelson's herstory with "The Homplace", her 54-page poetry book published by Louisiana State University Press in 1989. In just a day I consumed her unique and illustrative writing style that allows readers to savor the bittersweet story of being an Afro-American.

Currently digesting tapas of her work: Faster than Light, The Fields of Praise, and How I Discovered Poetry.

#WRITESIS

Alderman

One year the town Republicans
asked Pomp* if he would mind
if they put him up for office.
Pomp told them they were kind,
but he had seven children
and a wife he cared about:
He was too young to die--
which he sure would, without a doubt,
if his name stood on that ballot.
Two white men came to call
a few days later at his store,
younger than he, but tall
like he was. They told Pomp he was their brother:
"It ain't your fault you had a nigra mother".
They said they'd stand behind him if he ran.
After they left, the local Klu Klux Klan
sent Pomp a message: "Boy, we understand
you need to learn your place". And Pomp withdrew
because the Klan was wrong: By God, he knew. 

written by Marilyn Nelson, The Homeplace, 1989.

*Pomp is the term of endearment that she uses to describe her great uncle