Grandmother's Gums

from Choice Doyce: The Best of Doyce Whisanant by Doyce Whisanant & Macular Degenerates

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lyrics

Grandmother's Gums

Well she pointed her finger
at one of her brood
and said, Him I will have me
to chew up my food.
And him, he shall tend me
for the rest of my days,
for there's been none
to serve me since
they buried my slaves.

And long did I linger
beneath her regard,
but the nights were as tender
as the days were hard.
And my dreams they are haunted
by the dead of my kin.
And my fears they are tempered
by the love of my skin.

The forest and the trees,
the birds and the bees,
the bumblebee buzzes
and the hummingbird hums--
I learned about these
through my Grandmother's gums.

She shot him through the stomach,
and as he lay on the ground,
I cried, “I love you, Pawpaw!”
And he laughed at the sound.
Then he winced with the pain
as he chewed on his Tums
and said, You love only yourself
and your Grandmother's gums!

The forest and the trees,
the birds and the bees,
the bumblebee buzzes
and the hummingbird hums--
I learned about these
from my Grandmother's gums.

All these memories I clutch
like some treasure or wound,
for they found me
a-raiding my Grandmother's tomb,
where I've taken and wrapped
in this flag that I wave,
and as one we lie bleeding
on Grandfather's grave.