An American poet, Theresa Greenwood, has published a volume of poems entitled, ‘Psalms of a Black Mother.’In one poem a mother prays these sensitive and haunting words:
My son’s a scientist,
A bright, searching young man.
He’s got three degrees
But no salvation.
He’s got honors
But no honor.
He’s got charity
But no love.
He’s got ‘things’
But really nothing.
The test tube is his church
And carbolic acid his revelation.
Lord,
Open the eyes of my boy who’s
Been blinded by a
Thimbleful of
Knowledge.
Theresa Greenwood, Psalms of a Black Mother, Anderson, Indiana, The Warner Press, 1970.
Image: A sixteenth century thimble.
