Of Women

i am of women

strong

and

true.

mothers,

grandmothers,

aunts,

sisters,

cousins

and friends.

mentors of high quality;

wise women,

workers

and seers.

my path was cleared

by the brave

who threw off

disappointment 

and pushed through…

my teeth were cut

around kitchen tables

and sitting rooms

where one could look,

listen,

and learn.

my herstory 

is full of stories

that made hardship

look easy:

lost loves never spoken of,

migration,

children,

hard work

and purpose.

i am of women

whose beginnings

we’re meager

but whose spirit

is substantial.

women who saw beauty

in themselves,

who wore hats

suits,

pants

and floral dresses;

who shaped their eyebrows

and curled their hair.

women who learned

and taught

and rarely showed

their tears.

i am

of women

who lived and died

strong 

and true;

who produced daughters

and sons

to live 

with benevolent legacy

integrity,

dignity,

and pride.
Linda Tauhid

©8/16/17

POEM FOR MS. SHORTY

(Mother of Imani Shabazz)

these were the colors

of her hat:

rustic browns, fall tones on an off-white back–

she wore it well;

she was of New Orleans

a place i’ve sought to know;

but i am a stranger to its mysteries,

its magic, it’s charm.

i have danced its dances

and watched its parades

a spectator of a culture

so rich, so rare.

yet she was a mistress

of such things

with local stature

in the nuances

of that city’s life.

she will be well remembered

commanding 

for more than eighty years.

smiling, cooking, donning the wave

of the Mardi Gras float.

i hear the music of the 

second line;

it floats to the heavens–

it exalts those in the body

and those now free.

fly, Ms. Shorty

in the life

of the world

beyond.
Linda Tauhid

©6/3/17

Joel

will i never see you

again?

is it enough to just have

known?

will you never hear

my stories;

where i’ve traveled

what I’ve seen?

was what you taught me

back then

to be all…

Nina Simone,

“Four Women”

the beginnings of chess

and long walks.

you a teacher,

me a lover–

immersed in what you

knew,

what i wanted to learn,

the ‘feel’ of you.

when you

decided to try white women

(beginning with my friend)

and never went back…

is that a loss for me,

my ilk? (whoever they are)

have you escaped

to another land

where you will never

coach or remember 

another like me,

or

tell stories of Johnny Mathis,

or Curtis Mayfield

on a bow-legged

Boston walk;

or misconstrue

my attention,

my adoration,

for simple

curiosity

and

care?
Linda Tauhid

©7/6/17

4th of July

it

was so full

then–

Ma

and Daddy

and siblings

driving to a

Cape Cod beach.

sitting on sand

and mother-fed

chicken

and potato salad

and yellow, chocolate-

frosted cake.

the summer-warm

salty water,

the sun

that did not burn

our seasoned skin.

Daddy

and Uncle Charles

the navigators

of the day–

our cousins close by,

some of Wampanoag parentage…

family–

encirled with food,

love and warmth.

i am of ocean people–

fishers, swimmers,

‘waders-in-the-water’,

washers,

drinkers,

ship-riders,

ocean-crossers

far from home…

who brought

the gift of love and

joy,

and faith,

with rhythmic

music

and food-of-the-soul

and heart

with Independence,

to these

Atlantic waters

and beyond.

Linda Tauhid

7/4/17

Eid

i want

to dance!

listen to Jill Scott’s

“Whatever, Whatever”,

savor

every

golden

moment–

we are

free!

i want to eat,

run,

taste the salt

of Galveston Bay…

i want to don

a brightly colored scarf,

turn heads

and smile.

i want to

hold the hands

of my grandchildren

smell their innocent

child’s breath

and be pleased.

i want to walk strong

and continue

to conquer

and enjoy.

i want to hear

the wings of angels

and know

that i

am meant

to fly…

Linda Tauhid

©6/24/17

She Says…

she says
she thinks that
i
am from
the future–
an interesting notion.
as i muddle through
the angst of life
always before
or behind…
seeing,
but often veiled…
time is distorted
by human reasoning–
compacted within
its limits
into something
seemingly manageable
…but i do visit
vast worlds
and interact
with their beings.
yet the space
i occupy
on earth
is small.
i am not a purveyor
of time
or its expression
in tenses.
i travel between its borders
searching for Truth
and
my place
in
All
Existence.

Linda Tauhid
6/18/17

Tanayah

she came here

a couple of times.

once, when she was still young 

and full of love.

and we locked arms and took giant steps

as a game.

i always took my girls

to coffee–

even when they were young

how best a grand mother

to teach refinement,

sociability.

i have long been gone

from around her

her ravaging years of puberty

her adoption of ideals of an alien tribe.

I don’t know her now;

hauntingly beautiful

she plays in pictures

and displays a knowledge

of saucy poses.

she is of me–

i will never let that go…

she is one of mine

tainted by crossed ideals

and the people who promote them.

but i remember holding her

newly born,

connected to me

in a blood-bound way, mine…

but free to choose

her life, her people,

her loves.
Linda Tauhid

©5/13/17