The Idea Of Ancestry

Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black faces: my father, mother, grandmothers (1 dead), grand- fathers (both dead), brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins (1st and 2nd), nieces, and nephews.

They stare across the space at me sprawling on my bunk.

I know their dark eyes, they know mine.

I know their style, they know mine.

I am all of them, they are all of me; they are farmers,

I am a thief,

I am me, they are thee.

I have at one time or another been in love with my mother, 1 grandmother, 2 sisters, 2 aunts (1 went to the asylum), and 5 cousins.

I am now in love with a 7-yr-old niece (she sends me letters in large block print, and her picture is the only one that smiles at me).

I have the same name as 1 grandfather, 3 cousins, 3 nephews, and 1 uncle.

The uncle disappeared when he was 15, just took off and caught a freight (they say).

He's discussed each year when the family has a reunion, he causes uneasiness in the clan, he is an empty space.

My father's mother, who is 93 and who keeps the Family Bible with everbody's birth dates (and death dates) in it, always mentions him.

There is no place in her Bible for "whereabouts unknown."