La Vaca, by Alice Walker

La Vaca

Look

into

her eyes

and know:

She does not think

herself

steak.

* La vaca, "the cow" in Spanish.

If my sorrow were deeper I’d be, along with you, under the ocean’s floor; but today I learn that the oil that pools beneath the ocean floor

Word reaches us that you are sleeping, sleeping. Dismayed we have turned to the sea. We encounter among others

I will keep Broken things: The big clay Pot

Expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. become a stranger To need of pity Or, if compassion be freely

Be nobody’s darling; Be an outcast. Take the contradictions Of your life And wrap around

You confide in me that you are lonely,

With your unknown to me Odd magic You came To me:

Going out to the garden this morning to plant seeds for my winter greens —the strong, fiery mustard

My brothers knew The things you know. I did not scorn learning them; It’s just my mind

The tree of life has fallen on my small house. I thought it was so much bigger! But it is not. There in the distance I see the m…

I have a friend who is turning gray, not just her hair, and I do not know why this is so.

When the people have won a victory whether small or large do you ever wonder

If I was President The first thing I would do is call Mumia Abu—Jamal. No, if I was president

When you see water in a stream you say: oh, this is stream water; When you see water in the river you say: oh, this is water

When you thought me poor, my poverty was shaming. When blackness was unwelcome we found it best that I stay home.