February 15, 2023

From Gerald R. Lucas

Who Said It Was Simple
By: Audre Lorde (1973)

There are so many roots to the tree of anger
that sometimes the branches shatter
before they bear.

Sitting in Nedicks[1]
the women rally before they march 5
discussing the problematic girls
they hire to make them free.
An almost white counterman passes
a waiting brother to serve them first
and the ladies neither notice nor reject 10
the slighter pleasures of their slavery.
But I who am bound by my mirror
as well as my bed
see causes in colour
as well as sex 15

and sit here wondering
which me will survive
all these liberations.



notes

  1. Nedick’s was an American chain of fast-food restaurants that originated in New York City in 1913.