Panola: My Kinfolks' Land
by
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Hearing the echoes of a slave from my being
**** Mrs. Mae Lou’s Business
There was a woman in my neighborhood that washed everyday,
I often wanted to tell her to re-wash what she had hung,
I invited my neighbor in to see what I was talking about,
To my amazement it was not Mrs. Mae Lou’s wash that was unclean,
Stirs the reality of what life is still seeing
Jostling the slave into an isolated corner of my soul
And trying to enclose what’s untamable and bold
Lets me hear a voice of deep earthly sorrow
Evoking the reality of all of earth’s tomorrows
Sometimes I set my eyes on the shadow of a slave
That rouses a fear that I’ll take to the grave
But it remains for all to see
The echoes and shadows are the slave’s legacy to me
Incessantly reminding me of what could be
The slave’s willpower securely walks with me
The slave’s voice comes and talks with me
For the slave’s being is there to ensure I stay free.
She hung her clothes a peculiar kind of way.
Her wash was hung around the same time of day,
The clothes looked so bad from the dingy wash, wear, and play.
I noticed at home she always stayed,
Her name was Mrs. Mae Lou from across the way.
But as she washed she seemed so happy singing those ole timey songs,
I guess her eyes were not what they used to be when she was young,
A sigh of relief she gave when that ole dingy wash was hung.
Mrs. Mae Lou puzzled me why she never got her wash clean,
I started to tell her but her friendship I felt might wean.
Looked through my window and claimed she couldn’t see out.
She strained her eyes but she couldn’t see what I was trying to show,
So I stopped and washed my window so it would glow.
Mrs. Mae Lou’s wash was cleaner than anyone could know.
But my own dirt on my window that made me see what I had seen.
‘Cause Mrs. Mae Lou’s wash was like a bright sparkling sheen.
Now rarely do I look at anyone’s wash on his or her clothesline,
My time is spent cleaning all my windows of dirt that’s mine.
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About the Book
Panola: My Kinfolks' Land
About the Author
Evelyn Dilworth-William is a secondary teacher, guidance counselor, and a master facilitator of parenting education. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. She is also a graduate of the University of Alabama in Birmingham Graduate School of Education in Guidance and Counseling, with additional study in Family Counseling. She is also a certified parenting facilitator by Active Parenting Publishers of Atlanta, Georgia. Dilworth-Williams enjoys writing as well as reading poetry. Some of her most recent readings of her poetry have been at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, the public library in Birmingham, various heritage affairs, and social gatherings. Her poetry is one of the counseling techniques used with her students and their parents. Her poems range from inspirational to down right humorous. Dilworth-Williams poetic motivation is a blend of all life’s energy.