Milestone or

             Millstone?

Holding me back

        or

Propelling me forward?

Measuring my progress

        or

Reminding me of missed opportunities?

A rite of passage

        or

A gift drowned in the middle passage?

A lost visage of my lost cultural heritage?

How do I know when I am a woman?

When does a man know to begin to desire me?

How do I name my children so that

the stars hear and record their birth?

And how,

       how will I know when he is a man?

By his strong back?

Capable arms?

Puffed up chest?

Maybe if he is never a man,

I won't lose him to

the streets

      or

ravenous cops

Or, is a bullet in the

back

its own milestone?

Saying, "STOP RIGHT THERE!

YOU'VE GONE FAR ENOUGH!

GROWN FAR TOO MUCH!"

Can't let you exceed the

length of your chains

the reach of my fear

Can't let you rise away from here

like the sun

and uplift your people with you

Milestone

   Millstone

Gravestone

Markers of time passed

life lived

time served