Self Portrait
Please note, this page is no longer being maintained and may contain old or inaccurate information. Visit the
home page or select a category in the navigation for more up-to-date information.
Self Portrait HOME |Site Index | Site Search | What's New | Adoption in the News | Adoption Assist |Agencies | Waiting Kids | Waiting Parents | FREE Search Registry | Birth Family Search | Birthfamily | Adoptees | Shop | Experts | Library | Chat | Boards | Calendar: Events | Giant Directory of Adoption Resources
Self Portrait by Susan Van Sleet author of a
Birthmother's Book of Poetry
Self Portrait At age eighteen in sixty-six Her alter persona was
masking a mix A
fledgling artist, on canvas, portrayed The words of the
secret She could not
say The person she painted was staged in odd pose In loose fitting dress not tinted in rose Instead, it was brilliantly gaudy in hue Orange was the color ...an obvious clue The flowing gown, which was painted bright Enhanced darkened skin, denying
her white Remorse was transferred from core to core
She was the first painted ...but there would be more And as each
black woman did unfold The pregnant girl's art captured feelings untold
The silence she was told to keep Haunted her nightly as she tried to sleep Her pillow was moist with private tears And there were suffocated visions clouded in fear Where would her infant baby be From time of birth through eternity The artist felt so all alone Shamed in such untimely zone Then the paint would dry And another day end Until her painted emotions would purge again. ************ Susan Van Sleet Post Adoption Consultant bsab@antigopro.net Birthmother Artist Author Back to Adopt: Assistance Information Support
Home
