Forgive
Maya Angelou
Take me, Virginia,
bind me close
with Jamestown memories
of camptown races and
shops pregnant with cargo
and Richmond riding high on greed
and low on tedious tides
of guilt
But take me on, Virginia
loose your turban of flowers
that peach petals and
dogwood bloom may
form epaulettes of white
tenderness on my shoulders
and round my
head ringlets
of forgiveness, poignant
as rolled eyes, sad as summer
parasols in a hurricane.
(copyrighted work, reprinted by special permission of Dr. Maya Angelou)