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Callaloo 26.2 (2003) 416
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Lipstick
Cheryl Boyce Taylor
In Dakar I watch a girl
of eleven or so
sift pebbles from rice
her pile of pebbles grows
larger than the rice
piled at her feetshe peels oranges
hangs the peel to dry on vines
to use for stomach achesgive me lipstick
lipstick for Mama
she pleads
in the way she would ask
for more ricelipstick please
her eyelids a small jeweled necklace
glows in noonday lightwhat's it like
to give your daughter to the world
her face ripped in two
Cheryl Boyce Taylor, who holds a master's degree in social work, is the author of two collections of poetry, Raw Air and Night When Moon Follows. This Trinidad native spent her childhood in New York City.
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