“Please, Please, Please” by Lolita Stewart-White

Lolita Stewart-White

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE

for President Barack Obama

baby please don’t go
if you do who will be pleased
by our cornrows
the way they swoop down
our black swan necks

we want you back darlin’
your grace and ease
are so damn pleasing

baby please don’t go
and we’ll do up our dos
with doo wop
rock kinky locks
and knotted crowns
just for you

please, please, please

honey please
don’t go
oh, oh
we love you so
your smooth talk
not a crease in your tone

baby you’re our bridge of light
between mourning and morning
you wring the blues
from our walking shoes

please, please, please

bear witness Barry
listen to our pleas
cradle us once again
please

from Rattle #58, Winter 2017

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Lolita Stewart-White: “This poem is after James Brown’s famous song, ‘Please, Please, Please’ where the Godfather of Soul begs a woman to please come home. I was listening to it one night and thinking about President Obama. How I wish we could serenade and beckon him back to the White House.”

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