ODE TO THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE

President Obama stands on the shoulders

Of Rosa and Stokely, and Martin and Chaney

And Till and Nkrumah, and Angela and Marcus

But I stand on the shoulders of Aunt Hilda

Who owned the Mandeville Bookroom in Jamaica

She gave me my first grownup book “A Basket of Flowers” when I was only nine

I loved her visits when she came to America because as long as I remember

She would bathe my feet

It was her ritual, it was her expression of love to me

As the master bathed the feet of the disciples

So she humbled herself to bathe the feet of a child

How transcendent I felt

How special

How loved

I remember not a word of our conversations

I only remember the devotion

The service

The love inherent in the act

She is gone now

She left us today

She is in a place where the King of Kings is washing HER feet

I miss her already though she has only just left

But the memory of her understanding, service and quiet love to this child will never leave my heart.

Goodbye Aunt Hilda

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