the vacant lot

August 12, 2000

Mrs. Coley's three-flat brick
Isn't here any more.
All done with seeing her fat form
Burst out of the basement door;
And with seeing her African son-in-law
(Rightful heir to the throne)
With his great white strong cold squares of teeth
And his little eyes of stone;
And seeing the squat fat daughter
Letting in the men
When majesty has gone for the day—
And letting them out again.

Gwendolyn Brooks

Charivaria / Poems / August 12, 2000