Carefully choreographed
The telling of tales
Grandfather Stories
Curated in the front seat of a Buick LaSabre
On black top highways across the Lone Star State
Grandchildren of the Greatest Generation
In the back seat, ready for the ride
The adventures ahead
Little papa, my Papacito
The keeper of stories
Had a gun that he kept at his side
When he drove men and boys
Whose skin looked different than ours
To scout meetings and church
So children could change the future
In 1964, he was fighting Jim Crow
Carefully constructed
Wisely weighted words
Train jumping into Louisville
Before the war to end all wars
With milk teeth still in gums
To watch men hanged
He couldn’t recall crimes or Names
But he knew the color of skin . . .
Excerpt from the book, “ENOUGH say their names.”
