Migration/I Slip Away Sometime

by AUDREY SHIPP

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.
Share: