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Columnist:
Stacey Tolbert
Deidre
R. Gantt
Deidre R. Gantt is a poet, teacher, and entrepreneur from Washington, DC. Her poems have appeared in Brilliant Corners, divideDCity, rolling out, and Gathering Ground. She currently writes a monthly column for the Ward 7 Arts Collaborative in DC's East of the River newspaper and teaches English at Prince George's Community College in Largo, MD, where she also serves as faculty advisor for Reflections, the student literary and arts magazine.
Prayer for the Child in 204
Who am I to decide
"shut the fuck up"
is not your mother's best attempt
at love
you are still at home
and she is still beside you
wrestling frustration
to stoop and clear
your scattered cheerios
before your father returns
with rage
feasting upon his flesh
who am I to assume
I am more fit than she
who surrendered her body
to push you into existence
she could have left you
incomplete
crumpled in a bin
she could have left you
smothered in banana peels
and roaches
she could have dropped you off
at grandma's en route to dreams
that did not include you
I have never seen your face
smelled your shit
chased your soapy body
told you once
told you twice
battled your father
you scream again
and I glare at the ceiling
cast myself as your savior
biceps burled and bursting
through plaster concrete hardwood
floorboards to snatch you from familiar miseries
and swaddle you in dulcet tones
but God does not live
in my mirror
so I disarm this scowl
and pray
that I am not wrong
to leave the police at 7-Eleven
and my nose
in my own apartment
I pray for GRACE
to fall on your household
like an atomic bomb
for God to write MERCY
on the roof of her mouth
and his
and mine
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