The Aunt Jemima Syndrome

                                                                                                                                For Billie Holiday

This is not a bio about me  alone.

some of us are even college-educated;

we come to work with smiles

on our faces like buttons strategically placed.

they are removed the second we leave.

we get callouses on our hands

and carpet burns on our knees

from scrubbing floors

and scrubbing the toilets

that we are not qualified

to piss or take a shit in.

this is not a bio about me alone.

we gladly cook the nine-course meals,

serve the food and cocktails

in black tuxedos and uniforms

and smile when/if smiled at

and sit in the kitchen eagerly waiting

along with the family dog

hungry for the scraps:

                #1-pig stomach lining (hogmaw)

                #2-pig intestines or guts (chittlin’s)

                #3-pigs feet

                #4-pig tongue, tail, & ears

                #5-pig brain (head cheese)

                #6-cow’s neck (neck bones)

                #7-ox tails

                #8-the tubular passage that extends from mouth to anus and functions in digestion                       and absorption of food and elimination of residual waste in birds (gizzards)

we gladly fetch

their slippers the newspaper

the mail and drive mr  and miss daisy and her kids

to the grocery store

and we walk where we need to go

in the pouring rain the heavy winds heavy snow in shoes two sizes too small

this is not a bio about me alone.

we get pistol-whipped stomped kicked to the curb

and beaten by cops whose actions are applauded

and the issue is taken lightly

and danced around and we get frustrated

and fight gunfire with gunfire,

even amongst ourselves.

this is not a bio about me alone.

no,

this is not a bio about me alone.

this is about all of us

who don’t know our places,

and step out of line. 

 --Alexgeorge

                                                              

                                                             

(I wrote this 30 years ago after watching a documentary  about Billie Holiday. During a scene, and I cant remember what it was- I remember her saying "I aint no damn Aunt                                 Jemima!"  and this poem came to me that night)