User:James E Reeves/Poems
Start your new article here! Alberta’s Story
It is a privilege to know Alberta and this is where I’ll start,
Her story began with conversation about good food and a broken heart.
She was assigned to my book of clients to share
For collections and prospects much profits to bear.
A woman of color, her rosy cheeks seem to burst.
Began with a story she didn’t have to rehearse.
“We left Alabama in the fifties for sure
Because of all the trouble we had to endure.”
No work for my husband so not much to eat
New York looked much better we had kinfolk to meet.
Our folks there were anxious no money no room;
We had to get work or starve very soon.
So finally my husband found some success
This waiting and looking was such a distress.
He asked on his first paycheck, now what bills should be met?
I said, “a night on the town and a table that’s set.”
So we enjoyed a New York dinner the best I ever had.
We came wearing old clothes but we were still glad.
The waitress said no money please it’s on the owner;
He wants to see you now and he’s coming around the corner.
My stomach was full, so I thought oh! How great!
Then I heard what he said as he broke my plate.
“We don’t serve people with dirty clothes on their back,
The plate that you touched we’ll replace on our rack.”
Tears big as dimes were splashing the floor. Retelling this story involved so much more.
She left sweet Alabama the place of her home,
But to some discrimination exist wherever they roam.
Many people have told me stories some were true and some were not.
Some stories meant nothing at all to me but some meant quite a lot.
And there have been some people I esteemed so very high
People most courageous not embarrassed at all to cry.
Now sometimes-big tears of emotions are not always true
But when judging what is from the heart it is more than just a clue.
By- James E Reeves
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