A Little Piece
of Sky
"Running"
My mother was always running away. I suppose it's only natural
because she came from a long line of runners. Her grandmother
ran away from Virginia to Connecticut where she worked as
a cleaning woman in a hotel. Her mother, my grandmother, ran
away from Connecticut to Philadelphia, where she settled on
the southwest side, long before the airport was built. My
mother ran away, but not as far as her foremothers had run,
for she had too much baggage to carry, and this was no easy
task for a solitary woman.
She simply got on the trolley one day, and when she looked
out the window, she saw a kite the color of water dancing
in the sky. She gathered up her things and bustled off the
trolley, trying to follow the kite that was free. She walked
struggling with her load, chasing the liberated kite, which
she never could catch. Eventually she got tired and sat on
a step to catch her breath.
That was where she planted herself. There in the section
of North Philly teeming with golden, tan, cream, and bronze
people. She heard the cadence of their tongue and decided
that she loved them, for they too, were travelers. They too,
felt that they didn't belong in one place. My mother never
could understand why they would leave the place that God had
kissed with sun long before the conquistadors came, but she
respected their bravery, so there she stayed, waiting for
the kite the color of water to remember her and come back.
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