after Gwendolyn Brooks
At least, they had each other—another voice
to say grace before eating, another pair of light brown eyes
looking back once the beans were done.
Two adherents of a religious order,
quiet and solemn at the table among the little
they had in their mid-century, rented back room—
Six decades after Gwendolyn penned them,
I remember them as if they were neighbors
or distant relatives I haven’t seen in quite some time,
remember them fondly. Wonder how they are now
though they should be long dead; hope they recognized
what they had since they had each other
along with the chipped plates, old wood table,
dangling beads, crumpled receipts, treasured dolls,
tobacco crumbs, thrift-store vases and tattered fringes.
Ellen June Wright
Ellen June Wright’s first collection, Angela, is forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books. Her chapbook, Laure, was a top 10 finalist in the Adrift 2025 chapbook contest. Her work has been published in POETRY Magazine, The American Poetry Review, Caribbean Writer, Obsidian, and is forthcoming in Callaloo. She’s a Cave Canem and Hurston/Wright alumna and has received several Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. Wright also hosts a weekly workshop for Black poets.
