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"THE VIEW FROM THE BALCONY"
by- Patsy Jo Reed Sircy


I grew up in a WHITE small town,
That meant no NEGROES lived around;
A slight exaggeration, there was one house,
On a hill, one BLACK family, quiet as a mouse!
My FRIEND, Uncle Tom, Sister Jessie, her three little girls,
Special to me, then as now, like five precious black pearls;
Big SMILES they wore, always made me happy,
I wondered what it meant when they called each other "nappy"!
Jessie ironed clothes for white people, small her fee,
Sometimes doing "day work", but not for poor folks like me;
When they walked past, Mother called, "Won't you all come in?"
She really was glad that Jessie was her friend.
My Mother never told me they "were not our kind",
I never understood why they walked a step behind;
By time I reached age six, I had a big mystery,
A full movie theater, but no one in the balcony!
I, one day, told my Mother, "Let's see the show from up there,"
She said, "There goes the manager, ask him does he care";
It was "seats saved for COLOREDS" to watch "GONE WITH the WIND",
We liked THE VIEW FROM THE BALCONY, it was never roped off again!!

26 APRIL 1996

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