IN THE AUTUMN OF HER LIFE--SHE STOOD

IN THE AUTUMN OF HER LIFE—SHE STOOD

Beneath the cold gray skies, proudly she stood.

Stripped bare, naked to the world—arms outstretched

To the world; unashamed, poised in anchored dignity,

She stood.

Through the peep-holes of window shades, eyes

Reached out—touching her beauty:

This ancient lady—an aged old tree—glorified

In the autumn of her life;

Now I stand atop this scenic autumn hill, glorifying

My ebony Mother—victimized, stripped bare of God given

Rights to be; yet, with arms outstretched, poised in anchored dignity,

This ebony queen mastered each day of the autumn of her life—Proudly

An ebony Queen mastering each day in the vicious autumn of her life:

She stood.