SERVE

by Akua Lezli Hope

via GIPHY

Her smirk

not a quirk

an expressive face that moves

knows the dance in a glance

an intellectual twerk

displays the staunch resilience

of the endowed but denied

civility’s proprieties

resistance to a jerk

who made exchange real work

those demeaned, those denied

who manage but won’t hide

constraints placed on contempt

silence endless drumbeats to genuflect

accommodate, excuse, cow-tow

duck and shamble, indulge the ruse —

all ignored in the arch of her brow

skew of her lips, pursed

and parsed along the narrow band

of behavior deemed seemly

she could not unmean what she meant

nor unintend the message sent, she would

proffer her passion extolling another

yet not relent and we, her many

cousins laugh and apprehend this

semiotic vent, who know well

the sly, deliberate tell

 

 

Akua Lezli Hope is a creator and wisdom seeker who uses sound, words, fiber, glass, metal, and wire to create poems, patterns, stories, music,  sculpture, and peace.  A third generation New Yorker, her honors include the NEA, two NYFAs, SFPA, Rhysling and Pushcart Prize nominations.

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