Lit Bits-10/15/2014 Alice Walker

Aleathia says:

When I was younger, in my 20's, it was very exciting to embark on a world of literature that was not chosen for me.  I could read anything I wanted in my spare time that I could not when I was a full time student and working.

I set out to read names that I had heard of, names new to me....one year I even read book solely based on their covers to try to find new writers out of my comfort zone.  At one point I decided that I was going to read every book on the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction list.  I own almost all of these books and have read about 1/3 of them.

One of those books was "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.  Yes, I know, the Oprah movie.  The book is so much more than that (you might always hear me say this). Alice Walker is a stunning writer with a lot of soul, but I'm not here to praise that novel.  Many before me have done this.

At the library book sale I was fortunate enough to come across a collection of Alice Walker's poetry from 2003 called "Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth".  These poems were written at a time when she was staying in Mexico.  The world was in upheaval then after 9/11 and Walker claims a deep sadness about the state of our country and the planet as we all did.

Until I Was Nearly Fifty

Until I was

Nearly fifty

I barely though

Of age.

But now

As I approach

Becoming

An elder

I find I want

To give all

That I know

To youth.

Those who sit

Skeptical

With hooded

Eyes

Wondering

If there really

Is

A path ahead

& whether

There really

Are 

Elders

Upon it.

Yes.  We are there

Just ahead

Of you.

The path you are on

Is full of bends

Of crooks

Potholes

Distracting noises

& insults

Of all kinds.

The path one is on

Always is.

But there we are

Just out of view

Looking back

Concerned 

For you.

I see my dearest

Friend

At fifty-one

Her hair

Now 

An even

Steel.

She blushes much

& talks

Of passion.

It cannot be

For the bourgeois

Husband

I never 

Liked.

I thought life

With him

Had killed

The wild-haired girl

I knew.

But no.

There she is.

There she goes.

Blushing.

Eldering.

I too talk

Stunned

Of love

Passion

Grace of mating

At last

With 

My soul's

Valiant twin.

Oh youth!

I find

I do not

Have it in

My heart

To let

You stumble

On this curve

With fear.

Know this:

Surprise alone

Defines

This time

Of more than growth:

Of distillation

Ripeness

Enjoyment 

Of being

On the vine.