A Negro Woman

carrying a bunch of marigolds

wrapped

in an old newspaper:

She carries them upright,

bareheaded,

the bulk

of her thighs

causing her to waddle

as she walks

looking into

the store window which she passes

on her way.

What is she

but an ambassador

from another world

a world of pretty marigolds

of two shades

which she announces

not knowing what she does

other

than walk the streets

holding the flowers upright

as a torch

so early in the morning.