11226: Just a Girl from Brooklyn

QUILT (1992) Dedicated to Bernice Bell & Beverly Moore I never knew what a few pieces of fabric could mean It could tell a story It could reveal a life Grandma in her wisdom could tell her story With five pieces of rags A flowery scene Within her youth A patterned middle age She showed her remnant of patchwork It was dark as pain Yet even in life’s suffering moments there were flowers Beauty She pointed to little roses Which she called hope As she sewed up a work she proclaimed faith I never knew what a few pieces of fabric could mean My mother understood Her quilt was a tight one reflecting close family ties She could point to me On this her masterpiece of life She called me the sunshine I was yellow and bright She sewed up her life Her children My father She collected a whole patch of emptiness Why does that piece always seem to fit I held back the tears knowing I’d never need To sew my story It was already in place I never knew what a few pieces of fabric could mean They told a story A story of women A story of life