[lady in red] "at 4:30 AM"

By Ntozake Shange
at 4:30 AM
she rose
movin the arms & legs that trapped her
she sighed affirmin the sculptured man
& made herself a bath
of dark musk oil egyptian crystals
& florida water to remove his smell
to wash away the glitter
to watch the butterflies melt into
suds & the rhinestones fall beneath
her buttocks like smooth pebbles
in a missouri creek
layin in water
she became herself
ordinary
brown braided woman
with big legs & full lips
reglar
seriously intendin to finish her
night’s work
she quickly walked to her guest
straddled on her pillows & began
 
 
                  ‘you’ll have to go now/ i’ve
                  a lot of work to do/ & i cant
                  with a man around/ here are yr pants/
                  there’s coffee on the stove/ its been
                  very nice/ but i cant see you again/
                  you got what you came for/ didnt you’
& she smiled
he wd either mumble curses bout crazy bitches
or sit dumbfounded
while she repeated
                  ‘i cdnt possibly wake up/ with
                   a strange man in my bed/ why
                   dont you go home’
she cda been slapped upside the head
or verbally challenged
but she never waz
& the ones who fell prey to the
dazzle of hips painted with
orange blossoms & magnolia scented wrists
had wanted no more
than to lay between her sparklin thighs
& had planned on leavin before dawn
& she had been so divine
devastatingly bizarre the way
her mouth fit round
& now she stood a
reglar colored girl
fulla the same malice
livid indifference as a sistah
worn from supportin a wd be hornplayer
or waitin by the window
                              & they knew
                              & left in a hurry
she wd gather her tinsel &
jewels from the tub
& laugh gayly or vengeful
she stored her silk roses by her bed
& when she finished writin
the account of her exploit in a diary
embroidered with lilies & moonstones
she placed the rose behind her ear
& cried herself to sleep.
 

Copyright Credit: From FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF (PLAY) by Ntozake Shange. Copyright © 1975, 1976, 1977, 2010 by Ntozake Shange. Reprinted with the permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster LLC. All rights reserved.
Source: FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF (PLAY) (Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster LLC, 1975)