As I wake up in the morning I feel the sunshine on my face
And I’m instantly taken back to the time of my youth
When the warmth of the season heated my body and my spirit
And the countless smiling blacks faces unaware of our economic plight
The way life was breathed into the land
Showing us down south has beauty too
The anxiousness and confusion of growing up
My breasts growing large and pert
Heightened sexual activity
It’s all in the air, but kept secret from the old Negro souls
That’s what made it the age of innocence
And as I stare in the eyes of my granddaughter I want to tell her
Confess, scream let her know I understand
I want to tell her of the nights at the juke joint
When Converse sneakers really only cost a nickel
15 children in one house
My twin drinking herself to death
Almost being raped by the man next door
Having a baby out of wedlock
The sorrow of leaving home
Messing with a married man
Eventually marrying him myself
Raising three beautiful children
Under a roof of abuse
Seeing her being born
Having to bury the second man I ever loved
All my hopes and fears resting inside of her
I want her to know I’ve been where she has and back
Let her know that my spirit is hers
That though I am silent I speak from my heart
As I look at my granddaughter I see myself
A rose is rose is a rose
And as I watch and see her mature I know
That the age of hidden innocence is not over like I thought
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