Poetry

She sat.

Editor's Note

This poem concerns the civl disobedience of Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005 in 1955. If you are not aware of this important event in the history of the African American civil rights movement, then please consult the Wkipeddaao

— William Rubel, Editor
She sat as they stood, waiting.
The seated passengers in her row stood and drifted to rows behind to make space.
The driver’s hand twitched and tensed.

She sat.

The driver inhaled sharply,

grimly snapping the silence

that had forced the other passengers to stand.

She sat but was torn from the sharp metal seat,

torn from the jouncing and creaking

for trying to paint color into the monochrome.

Soon she sat behind cold bars

where her brushes were meant to splinter

and her colors meant to drain.

But

soon the torn monochrome world stitched its seams into a new canvas
brushes would

abandon the buses

storm and paint the streets

in a downpour of pigment.

Colors flood the monochrome

now forming a vibrant watercolor of blue and green.

She sat.

And now

the bus breathes in color.

Stone Soup · Children’s Art Foundation · Since 1973