Migration/I Slip Away Sometime
by AUDREY SHIPP
in Spring 2018
Claes Gabriel, Queen Dido, 2018
Migration
From the streets of black Tennessee, a social experiment – Let lore tell it, – Let family
relate it – Big Mama and her husband originally from Mississippi -- her Indian blood, too – “All the blacks say that,” someone laughs, gestures – No opportunity – Slavery, segregation and the like – Road sign in Tennessee points towards Chicago – Black Migration, a textbook read – termed Great, greater, greatest --“Goodbyes” to family – 1930’s- Big Mama’s two daughters leave ten siblings behind – “Adieux” family -- “Adios” string of uncles rarely called by their birth names: Uncle Dump, Brother -- “Hello” cold streets – Hello ice, steel wheels on steel rails shrieking to cessation – Chicago’s South Side where one niece of the two sisters would make the best lemon Jello cakes – heavy to the hand while resting in its entirety on a plate – The niece big in size like her mama who stayed in Memphis – Windy city on a wide lake -- California Dreamin on any afternoon – “Ah, the possibilities,” says the white lady on the black and white tv screen holding paper towels up to the camera, blonde with bangs and shoulder length upward curls – 1950’s. – The two sisters, the one child of one sister – Los Angeles, palm trees, beach surf, and the black side of town – formerly the “Eastside” – Crenshaw and beyond, Vermont and beyond, the curfews – Blacks in their place, Chinese in their place, Japanese in their place, and the Mexicans in theirs – He told another story, the big black man from Louisville, Kentucky – The man constantly shaking keys and change in his pockets – Poor Rich --The one who played the role of granddad and dad simultaneously – It takes a village – He did the Great Migration with the Catholic Irish family as their butler, handyman – Certainly a jack of all trades – Said everything was fine till the lady asked him to wash her undies – That. Was. The End. – Everyone in their place – the White Westside -- Land of opportunity – California and American Dreamin – Two black sisters from Memphis cleaning sundry homes of middle class and wealthy West Side residents– one cleaning the home of said Irish family – Christmas on the Eastside: turkey breast, corn bread, collard greens, sweet potatoes (candied yams) – Al Green sings “Let’s Stay Together” – Two sisters leave ten siblings behind – Only one sister has offspring, the sisters dance at the party – turn, dip, snap fingers – The bourbon, the scotch, the cigarettes – Al Green signed on to the Memphis sound – Turn, dip, snap – I, Los Angeles native – I dance with my grandmother from Tennessee -- No cousins, one great aunt, no uncles in this town – Two sisters, California and American Dreamin – Wide open streets, fast cars courtesy World War, courtesy industrial revolution, courtesy black Great Migration to Detroit – Yet another story --“I saw you on the freeway this morning” – Family Reunion number One, Two, Three in Memphis, Tennessee – back to California forever – blue sky, Eastside, South Side – The Jackson Five on a 45rpm single, on a 33rpm album -- long play-- Michael Jackson.
I Slip Away Sometime
I slip away sometime
into dreaming and digging deep
towards the depth sometime
to where the heart is
time is measured
history painted
towards the core sometime
And down I go, I go, I go sometime
Talkin’ ‘bout living in a world
that won’t have me sometime
Building a house that won’t hold us sometime
And having a child who when a man
won’t own me sometime
And down I go, I go, I go sometime
into secret, hidden places
dark alleys sometime
where rivers used to roll
like the hips of a black gal, yes.
Born and continuing to reside in one of the most distant locations of the Great Migration, Audrey Shipp teaches in a public high school in Los Angeles. Amongst other topics, she aspires to bring to light the effects of migration on African-American culture while connecting her writing to the international Black Diaspora. She holds an M.Ed. and B.A. in English from UCLA and an M.A. in English from Cal State L.A.