My Great-Granny wore this yellow ribbon the day she and Great-Gramps got married

They were partners in life, death, and labor

She wore this red ribbon when she and Great-Gramps went to work in the fields with the plantain, ackee, and sugar cane

A hard, hot day’s work put food on the table and her babies in school

She wore this black ribbon the day Great-Gramps died

The tears eventually stopped, but she stopped living that day too

And she wore this green ribbon when she got visits from her not-so-little kids every now & then

            I think she was hoping their joy would fill her up enough to be all set to leave

My Grandma wore this yellow ribbon when she moved from that tiny little island all the way out to the big city

Her head was so full of ambition; she thought she was bound to find gold on the streets

She wore this red ribbon when Grampa would come home to the bottle instead of her

He worked hard, so she let him have his way once in awhile

She wore this black ribbon on the days when she needed the fresh air, dusty roads, and friendly people more than anything

These ebony skies, deafening noises, and suspicious strangers can make one so tired

And she wore this green ribbon when her baby girl took her out to see a musical

She was dressed to the nines, eager to replace those wrinkles with laugh lines

My Mama wore this yellow ribbon when she met my daddy

            I have a feeling she knew he was a good one

She wore this red ribbon when her first little one went off to university

            She was grinning and crying and hugging and blabbering all at once

She wore this black ribbon the day her own mama, my Grandma, died

            The thankful youngster became the mournful caregiver all too soon

And she wore this green ribbon the day her last baby walked down the aisle herself

There she went, grinning and crying and hugging and blabbering all over again

I wore this yellow ribbon when my little girl was born

            She looked just like all the women in our family, strong and kind

I wore this red ribbon when my little girl’s daddy walked out after three months

            I cried, but I knew I was gonna be fine

I wore this black ribbon the day I put my little girl in the hospital

            The car came out of nowhere. My life didn’t even have time to flash before me

And I wore this green ribbon the day I watched my little girl step out of her wheelchair, all on her own, for the first time in months

            She told me to stop bawling and apologizing, but we both knew that wasn’t happening

Those ribbons are starting to lose their color

Sometimes the stitching starts to come loose

But I just take new string and stitch it back, adding a new layer to the family history

All these ribbons have been passed down to women in my family for generations

I need to give these ribbons to my daughter eventually, so that they can continue guiding her

When I’m gone

She needs these memories, these remnants of home, these reminders of why we always stand

When the world is demanding we sit still

We don’t get put down so easy cause we weren’t born that way

And our mamas taught us better