Thoughts Born from My Granddaughter’s Drawing

Drawing by Marly Mandela Anderson

by Ernie McCray

Looking at my
seven-year-old granddaughter
Marley’s drawing
of the smiling faces
of her family,
her mom,
her dad,
and her grandma and me
and her brother and her
and Whiskey and Baby,
cats of long standing
in the family,
well, the portrait
soothes me,
like a breath
of needed fresh air,

as what she drew

was her way of telling us all

that she loves us deeply

which like a whisper to me

says that she

and her generation

are aware of what’s

proper and decent

and can weather

the nonsense

and lack of common sense

that their nation

is handing

down to them

and become wise

to their need,

with a little assistance

from earlier generations,

to undo the lies

and propagandizing

that have characterized

humankind early

in this century,

and proceed

to read as many of any books

that might be banned

as they can

and come to understand

why they were forbidden,

and come to also comprehend

why they should be at ease

saying “gay”

and not be spooked

if a trans woman

or man

comes their way,

and come to realize

that in order

for them to survive

and create

a loving society

they will have to know

their country’s

racist and sexist and oppressive history

as a back story

to becoming aware

of how things

have come to be

so, they can make the world

a place

wherein humanity

is as beautiful

as earth

is physically.

A world,

where a little girl

like my granddaughter, Marley,

far in the future,

will draw a portrait

of her family

with smiles on their faces

like those she drew

on the faces

of our family,

a testimony

that love

has withstood

the passage of time.

I thank Marley
for planting such thoughts
in my mind.