Melba Joyce Boyd

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The Return of Violet Starfish
for Kimberly Combs Voss


Yesterday, the News reported
the absence of seasonal starfish
from the Pacific coastline,
and that Asian Carp inhabiting
the Mississippi River
are swimming upstream
to invade Lake Michigan—
tragic planetary metaphors,
signs of reversals of
the natural order.

Kim was an architect,
convening lines
and calculating
abstractions
to inspire
engineering genius
and a marriage
of brilliance that
rendered Dante,
a perfect child.

We cling to her
balance and
the afterglow of
her luminous smile,
taking us to joy,
forcing retreats
from sadness or
too serious
even when she
suffered her body’s
battles against
the invasion
of the unnatural,
unrelenting disorder
of disease.

Kim now resides
within eternal space,
and in the comfort zone
of Grandmother love,
while we pray
for faith and a future
with fresh skies,
clean seas,
and the return
of violet starfish,
lining the north-
western shoreline.

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Faith in Psalms: Requiem for Claudia Fay Peek Corbin


We cannot cross
the street to visit,
to sample her
cuisine,
to sip wine,
to argue politics.
our voices cannot
connect on phones
to summon clarity
on a somber
afternoon
because
Claudia,
our touchstone
is gone.

a wordsmith
whose quick wit,
never cliché
or irreverent,
articulates
measured
intelligence,
orchestrates
words conferred
with purpose,
with linguistic
symmetry,
often aligned
with the arc
of Mackey’s art,
emerging from
his studio,
centered in
the city’s
indomitable
resilience.

Claudia’s
effervescent
laughter and
sparkling eyes
convey joy
and grace,
appreciative of
her blessings—
Amanda and Eureka,
and a rich
lineage effacing
smiling faces
of grandchildren,
reaffirming faith
in psalms,
during yet,
another
unholy time.

Seasoned blackeye
peas and collard
greens simmering
in iron pots,
a chicken roasting
in the oven below,
emitting flavors,
enticing tongues,
embellishing
signature stories,
quoting phrases,
invoking voices,
reminiscing with
Claudia’s ghost,
cooking in
the kitchen
for hopeful
souls on
a starlit,
Friday
night.

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