Forgive

Maya Angelou

Take me, Virginia,

bind me close

with Jamestown memories

of camptown races and

shops pregnant with cargo

and Richmond riding high on greed

and low on tedious tides

of guilt

But take me on, Virginia

loose your turban of flowers

that peach petals and

dogwood bloom may

form epaulettes of white

tenderness on my shoulders

and round my

head ringlets

of forgiveness, poignant

as rolled eyes, sad as summer

parasols in a hurricane.

(copyrighted work, reprinted by special permission of Dr. Maya Angelou)