In Memory

She
brown skinned
stocky
joy filled
exuded all that you'd expect from a lady
and then some

she
educated and educator
taught me lessons of womanhood
my child mind wasn't ready to absorb
yet
still she tried with me
took her time relaying lessons
of her experience

like
how to be a brown woman
with class
like how to check my smart mouth
how to hope
 and to remember that one day
i too will be old
and wise

like she
not of my blood
yet bound to my soul
and memory
on this day i sit in silence
remembering
let the skies spread the emptiness i still feel with her loss
on this day of her birth

i hope i have made her proud
i hope she watches me
with the same smile that greeted me like the dawn.
i hope she has found her love
& her family

i hold her hope in my heart
mingled with memories that will never fade
she remains
the best part of me
that i give away
because she of what she gave to me