White Noise
“Low levels of white noise can be used to cover up other random noises”
I.
They were expecting a Latino woman
A woman of dark hair and swirling colored skirts
A woman of sun baked adobe, cactus and meringue, samba and salsa
A woman with jalapeno peppers and a sombrero
With a mariachi band in her pocket
Who would wield the Virgin de Guadeloupe
Like some massive castanet
And croon a rosary in the language of conquistadors
II.
They were expecting a Pacific Island woman
A woman of exotic eyes and flowered lai
A woman of native ancestors, palm huts and coracles, cockatoos and coconuts
A woman with a ukulele and grass skirt
With a volcano in her pocket
Who would have joined the foreign missionaries
Like the pounding ocean surf
Zealously instructing and re-telling her conversion
III.
They were expecting an African woman
A woman of coffee beauty and powerful presence
A woman of righteous anger over bus seats and apartheid, ghettos, famine and genocide
A woman with a Kofi hat or Kente cloth
With an elephant in her pocket
Who would shout unto the Lord
Like the rhythm of a beaten drum
While angels echo her “Hallelujah! Amen.”
IV.
They were expecting an Arab woman
A woman of veils and oasis
A woman of countries embroiled in war, harems and tapas, camels and oil
A woman with hanging gardens and desert views
With pyramids in her pocket
Who would face Mecca seven times a day
Like the ever turning dervish
And walk behind her husband saying “Allah, be Praised.”
V.
They were expecting a White woman
A woman of pale skin and immigration
A woman of feudal systems and Shakespeare, Gutenberg, and persecution
A woman with canals and Guinness in her veins
With the Eiffel Tower in her pocket
Who would sit in a stiff Sunday pew and listen
Like a good soldier
Who will scrub your soul and behind your ears with equal determination
VI.
They were expecting what they thought they heard
A woman of a certain race or creed
A woman of accepted guidelines
Consistent with a culture or ethnicity, stereotypes and definitions
Who folds her spirit neatly in the expected box
Keeps Christ quiet in her pocket
And wears the low hum of humanity
Like a veil across her soul
“Low levels of white noise can be used to cover up other random noises”
I.
They were expecting a Latino woman
A woman of dark hair and swirling colored skirts
A woman of sun baked adobe, cactus and meringue, samba and salsa
A woman with jalapeno peppers and a sombrero
With a mariachi band in her pocket
Who would wield the Virgin de Guadeloupe
Like some massive castanet
And croon a rosary in the language of conquistadors
II.
They were expecting a Pacific Island woman
A woman of exotic eyes and flowered lai
A woman of native ancestors, palm huts and coracles, cockatoos and coconuts
A woman with a ukulele and grass skirt
With a volcano in her pocket
Who would have joined the foreign missionaries
Like the pounding ocean surf
Zealously instructing and re-telling her conversion
III.
They were expecting an African woman
A woman of coffee beauty and powerful presence
A woman of righteous anger over bus seats and apartheid, ghettos, famine and genocide
A woman with a Kofi hat or Kente cloth
With an elephant in her pocket
Who would shout unto the Lord
Like the rhythm of a beaten drum
While angels echo her “Hallelujah! Amen.”
IV.
They were expecting an Arab woman
A woman of veils and oasis
A woman of countries embroiled in war, harems and tapas, camels and oil
A woman with hanging gardens and desert views
With pyramids in her pocket
Who would face Mecca seven times a day
Like the ever turning dervish
And walk behind her husband saying “Allah, be Praised.”
V.
They were expecting a White woman
A woman of pale skin and immigration
A woman of feudal systems and Shakespeare, Gutenberg, and persecution
A woman with canals and Guinness in her veins
With the Eiffel Tower in her pocket
Who would sit in a stiff Sunday pew and listen
Like a good soldier
Who will scrub your soul and behind your ears with equal determination
VI.
They were expecting what they thought they heard
A woman of a certain race or creed
A woman of accepted guidelines
Consistent with a culture or ethnicity, stereotypes and definitions
Who folds her spirit neatly in the expected box
Keeps Christ quiet in her pocket
And wears the low hum of humanity
Like a veil across her soul