Flower Lady

     Sissey and I were able to sneak in a few days in Charleston over Spring Break...the Holy City is at it's best this time of year, when the flowers are bursting with blooms and the humidity has yet to blanket the city in a fog of sweat. I drove up and down the streets, giving Sissey the same old tour she gets every time--"There's the bank where I used to work! That used to be the East Bay Trading Company! There's my favorite restaurant!" etc. etc. etc. But it was at the corner of Meeting and Broad that I got a little misty eyed as I remembered my favorite flower lady, the one I would pass on my way to and from work, the one who always smiled and sang out her flowers, enticing  workers, residents,and tourists alike to take home a bunch of her beautiful blooms. I always thought she had the best job in town, sitting in the middle of the Holy City, surrounded by flowers, singing away the day, a smile on her face, a flower lady.

Flower Lady

Dark skin wrinkled deep-

Proud eyes return your gaze

then soften with a smile.

"Hey sweet chile

Buy dese blossoms he-uh!

Got me de glads
an som snaps
Zin-nee-yas!
Be-gon-ee-yas!"

She sings her wares.

Straw hat
boasts a purple bow.
Large worn hands
caress the blooms.

"Growed'em myself
on de Johns I-land.
Popcorn plant!
Make pretty wreath!
Dolla a bunch- no bow!
2 dolla- wrap'em up!"

She sings her wares.

Corner of Broad
and Meeting Street
she rests her blooms

and calls...

"Law chile

Buy dese blossoms he-uh!

Dolla a bunch!

Dolla a bunch!"

No time card

No days off

She sits.

She sells.

She smiles.

She sings her wares