Ancestor

A God-fearing man
with a buggy whip
was hard to live with

Hard on his children:
strapping boys
with rebellious eyes
frail girls
in the shade of bonnets

King Cotton
and the buggy whip
ruled them all

and it was even hard
on God
having to listen to his
own words
read devoutly every night

by a man with a buggy whip
hanging on the wall behind
his chair

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.