WILLOWS
One of the greatest things that I am honored by in my life, is that I got to grow up into adulthood knowing my great-great-grandmother and that my children were able to meet their great-great-great-grandmother, Millie Moriah Moore, who would bless this world with her presence for a century until her passing in 2003.
She would also bless the world with her progeny, of which I was the first of the 5th generation, upon my born day in 1975.
My firstborn child, Imani Amouré, was the first of the 6th generation upon her born day in 1995.
6 direct generations all alive at the same time, until the passing of Sammie Lee Hill, my great grandmother, in 2002, who preceded her mother’s return home by a year. It was Sammie Lee who would take me, when I was a lad, to visit Millie when she still lived in Metcalfe, Mississippi. The bus trip with Sammie Lee and the visit with Millie is one of my fondest childhood memories.
I remember the stack of comic books that were purchased so that I would have something to read during the Greyhound bus trip. I distinctly remember the stack being DC Comics heavy, which was kool, though I was definitely more of a Marvelite. I don’t remember exactly what issue, but i do remember a particular Justice League or Justice Society book that featured the team known as Infinity, Inc, who themselves were mostly made up of the offspring and or sidekicks of the heroes that came before them. If I were to ever see the cover of that particular issue, I would recognize it.
I distinctly remember laying comfortably one night in Metcalfe, listening to FM radio, as I would do often at home in Stateway Gardens, which has since been demolished. That area is now Park Boulevard and is mostly inhabited by geese and people with good enough numbers to afford the townhouses that have been built there. There is a Starbucks on the corner of 35th & State Street, that great street, though I do believe ol’ Frankie boy was referring more so to the downtown area than the projects.
But on that particular night in Metcalfe, I remember one of the FM radio songs being “I Knew You Were Waiting”. Laying there in the front room, a bit of light of the Metcalfe night shining through the windows and the drapery as the voices of Aretha Franklin and George Michael delivered me into the realm of the Sandman.
I remember fishing at a nearby river or stream, I’m a city boy, I didn’t know the difference. I work on a river for now and have for years, but I still don’t know if I know the difference. I believe this was my first time fishing. It was definitely was my first time being so far away from home.
I remember catching a crawfish. I remember someone having to tell me what the hell a crawfish was.
I remember triumphantly carrying my catch back to Millie’s house in a bucket.
I remember an aborted attempt to cook the crawfish. I don’t recall exactly why this meal was aborted, but i would slightly dissect my catch to reveal its insides. As a project kid, I wasn’t much exposed to aquatic life outside of the local fish-markets, where we would buy catfish to batter and fry.
I remember the great Willow tree in Millie’s backyard.
I remember burying the remains of the crawfish, in the shade of that Willow tree.
Honestly, I don’t know for sure if I buried the crawfish, but my memory wants to tell me that I did, so let’s go with that.
I shall never forget that Willow tree.
Sometimes I wish that I could have raised my children in a house, with a Willow tree in the backyard, just a short walk up the trail to a nearby river or stream, whatever it was.
My history of the world since 1903 is arranged by how old my great-great grandmother Millie Moriah Moore was when it happened. I had the opportunity to visit the Auschwitz/Birkenau camps a few years ago.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Millie was younger than i am now when the concentration camps were first used by the Germans, and she was a tad elder than I am now when the camps were liberated. She would go on to live 58 years past the ending of WWII.
I believe that Millie’s mother was the first person part of that lineage to be born free.
It feels weird to have been that close to my ancestors who lived during a time when they were in enslavement or fresh out of it.
Don’t know why I am pondering on all of this on this morning.
But now I wonder if the memory of Millie, Sammie Lee, and that Willow tree is why one of my favorite places to meditate is Ping Tom Park in Chinatown. I have spent many a moment underneath the Willow trees there by the Chicago River. That area seems to be an almost perfect balance of nature surrounded by industrialization. It is a place I have gone to sit in silence, to nap, to play guitar, to smoke with a friend, to walk with a lovely lady, and to let my children play. I have gone there on days off, still having a line of view to other boats and barges that are putting in a honest day’s work while I enjoy my escape.
One of my favorite things to do at work is pilot the tour boats down to Ping Tom Park, which is outside of our normal cruise route. It is definitely an occasional treat when one of our docents agrees to my suggestion or happen to request it themselves.
I had the honor of performing a piece of poetry i wrote at Millie’s 100th born day anniversary party. This piece I recited was written, or the first version of it was, while I was sitting in the shade of a Willow tree in Ping Tom Park while staring at the river.
Though the piece was dedicated to my mother, and all mothers that preceded her, I never made the connection about the Willow trees until today.
I might have to look for a copy of that particular DC comic book.
“The river did not always flow the way
That it does today
But it keeps on flowing
Mother
I wish you were here with me
Then I would be free
‘Cuz now I’m lonely
Mother
Please tell me what I should do
I really miss you
Please don’t disown me
The river did not always flow the way
That it does today
But it keeps on flowing”
2015 / “The River” poem written circa 2007
