Kid Bamboo
Cherrie Woods (aka Cherrie Amour)
My 70-year-old West Indian grandfather
Wore his tailored “shirt jacks” on Sunday afternoons,
Alternating the colors black, gray, navy blue, and brown.
One pocket, two pockets, and four pockets—
Some had fancy embroidery and others none.
All were crisp like a freshly toasted slice of bread.
His pants were brown, blue, or black,
All with two pockets
And ironed with seams as sharp as a razor.
Black or brown polished shoes
With a shine that could light a darkened room
Completed his weekly ensemble.
Every other day of the week,
My grandfather walked with his back bent
Or sat on the couch with his head in his hands.
On Sundays though,
He would walk through the house several times,
Straight and upright like a bamboo tree.
They called him “Kid Bamboo” when he was young.
On Sundays, we would sit on the couch watching him walk back and forth.
There was no bent back,
No slowness in his stride.
About the author
Cherrie Woods (aka Cherrie Amour) is a Baltimore-based award-winning poet whose candid, narrative style is shared in her self-published book Free to Be Me: Poems on Love, Life and Relationships. Cherrie is the creator of the Words, Wine & Wings Poetry and Open Mic Show and has been featured in The Baltimore Beacon, Fox45-TV, and Baltimore City Paper. Her poems have been published in the Paterson Literary Review, Understorey Magazine, Poet’s Ink, The Fire Inside: Collected Poems and Stories from Zora’s Den, and Maryland in Poetry. She is working on her second poetry manuscript called Sit Comfortably Elsewhere.
Cherrie has lived in Baltimore for 15 years.