To Close

Last night I cried myself to sleep.

I saw pictures of my little
Brown
Beautiful
Brothers and sisters
Thambis and Thangachis
Sitting beside another American

And she did not hold them
She did not touch their hands
Or kiss their cheeks
Or wear their Bindis

She did not paint their nails
Or pain her back from sitting
Hunched
Doing head of hair after head of hair

And her walls are not covered in
Letters of love and kindness and
Sisterhood
Hand-crafted and colored by those little
Brown
Beautiful
Hands

Again
I want to hold those hands in mine
Ten at a time
To play “Lemonade” and to
Sing “Pio Pio”
And “Love Story”
Until my throat is dry

I want to smile fully
Like I did then and there

for 28 days
With those little
Brown
Beautiful
Children of God

They may have forgotten me
For this Blonde, Beautiful American

But I will never forget them.