I saw a sister bathing on the street today
She walked up to a potted plant, palmed water from its leaves and wiped her brow
Then her neck, then her nape, then her tongue
Pretty coal black sister with woolly locs that had just begun to knat
Even though her back bowed by heavy trash bags and frame covered by a heavy winter coat in the summer
I recognized my sister
bathing on the street, holding on to her last dignities
She didn’t ask but I gave her a couple of dollars anyway
because I had the same respect for her that she had for herself
