Talking In Tongues
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we knew to tiptoe quietly if mama was on the land line using her full lips to parse out each syllable, carefully measuring her words as if they were being eye-balled and weighed on the other end
she saved that tongue for bill collectors and the principal but if she used it to sound out my whole name, everyone knew trouble was coming
the tongue she used for close friends had sugar on it was filled with laughter and warmth and music
when they fell into small circles made words hold their breath, change their color and meaning and forced the rules of English to take off its good wig it was not just speech class it was my first real poetry [End Page 14]
Frank X Walker coined the term, “Affrilachian” to refer to Appalachian African-Americans and founded Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture. He is the author of five poetry collections and serves the University of Kentucky as an Associate Professor in the Department of English and the Director of the African American and African Studies Program.
