PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
for President Barack Obama
baby please don’t go
if you do who will be pleased
by our cornrows
the way they swoop down
our black swan necks
we want you back darlin’
your grace and ease
are so damn pleasing
baby please don’t go
and we’ll do up our dos
with doo wop
rock kinky locks
and knotted crowns
just for you
please, please, please
honey please
don’t go
oh, oh
we love you so
your smooth talk
not a crease in your tone
baby you’re our bridge of light
between mourning and morning
you wring the blues
from our walking shoes
please, please, please
bear witness Barry
listen to our pleas
cradle us once again
please
—from Rattle #58, Winter 2017
__________
Lolita Stewart-White: “This poem is after James Brown’s famous song, ‘Please, Please, Please’ where the Godfather of Soul begs a woman to please come home. I was listening to it one night and thinking about President Obama. How I wish we could serenade and beckon him back to the White House.”
