Gwendolyn Brooks

she doesn’t wear costume jewelry & she knew that walt disney was/is making a fortune off false-eyelashes and that time magazine is the authority on the knee/grow. her makeup is total-real. a negro english instructor called her: “a fine negro poet.” a whi-te critic said: “she’s a credit to the negro race.” somebody else called her; “a pure negro writer.” johnnie mae, who’s a senior in high school said: “she and Langston are the only negro poets we’ve read in school and i understand her.” pee wee used to carry one of her poems around in his back pocket; the one about being cool. that was befo pee wee was cooled by a cop’s warning shot. into the sixties a word was born . . . . . . . . BLACK & with black came poets & from the poet’s ball points came: black doubleblack purpleblack blueblack beenblack was black daybeforeyesterday blackerthan ultrablack super black blackblack yellowblack niggerblack blackwhi-te- man blackthanyoueverbes ¼ black unblack coldblack clear black my momma’s blackerthanyourmomma pimpleblack fall black so black we can’t even see you black on black in black by black technically black mantanblack winter black coolblack 360degreesblack coalblack midnight black black when it’s convenient rustyblack moonblack black starblack summerblack electronblack spaceman black shoeshineblack jimshoeblack underwearblack ugly black auntjimammablack, uncleben’srice black williebest black blackisbeautifulblack i justdiscoveredblack negro black unsubstanceblack. and everywhere the lady “negro poet” appeared the poets were there. they listened & questioned & went home feeling uncomfortable/unsound & so- untogether they read/re-read/wrote & rewrote & came back the next time to tell the lady “negro poet” how beautiful she was/is & how she helped them & she came back with: how necessary they were and how they’ve helped her. the poets walked & as space filled the vacuum between them & the lady “negro poet” u could hear one of the blackpoets say: “bro, they been calling that sister by the wrong name.”