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A Good Job

For Kwame’s Mother


I know we are happy

To hold them in our arms

     Watching 

Them squizzle

     Learning 

To grow

I’m not sure

What makes us happier

     Watching 

Them take their first step or

     Watching

That first tooth come in 

 

We certainly think 

That first word should be

     Mother

 

And what joy to 

     Watch

Them walk

Down the aisle

For graduation or marriage 

And how fortunate are we

To see the world celebrate

The Talent

 

We burst with pride

At the Best Sellers

And the Prizes

But mostly I think we

     Appreciate

The warmth

Of the arms of our sons

Laying us to rest 

     Knowing

We have done

A Good Job


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Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni, the author of more than twenty books of poetry and children’s stories, has won numerous awards, including multiple NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, and the Rosa L. Parks Women of Courage Award.