The Flyer by Sistah Joy

The Flyer

Grocery giveaway
Free food for the elderly
Please bring a bag

A neighbor handed it to her
At the bank

It lay on her kitchen table
For two weeks
Before she taped it
Inside her bare kitchen cabinet

Closed doors hide more than empty shelves

Even more than empty stomachs

Today pride took a step
To the back burner

So potatoes, carrots and onions
Simmer on her stove once again

Pots boil freely
As aromas rise

Drying proud hands and tear-filled eyes
On an apron accustomed to hosting
family dinners for years 
She wipes away tears,
Then picks up the phone

Time to place a thank you call
To a good neighbor
 (c) By J. Joy ‘Sistah Joy’ Matthews Alford

Here is the video of Sistah Joy reading her poem The Flyer: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NaO8dcbXD8&t=12s

Sistah Joy was appointed as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland on September 18, 2018. since 2003, Sistah Joy is known for messages of social consciousness, inspiration and empowerment.  She has blazed literary trails for over 25 years through her impassioned activist poetry. In 2002 she received the Poet Laureate Special Award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities “for her outstanding contributions to the art of poetry in Washington, DC.”  ​

---