THE BLACK GIRL WITH BRACES ON HER TEETH

 
The black girl with braces on her teeth,
long skinny legs ending in roller skates.
Those beautiful brown legs in blue jean shorts,
sleek torso twisting in a loose top.

She glided past me,
turned her head,
looked right into my eyes,
caught me watching her.
She held my gaze a second,
I memorized her little nose,
her full mouth.
She turned her braided head forward
as she turned the end of the block
and she was gone.

She didn’t smile at me
but she didn’t seem upset
that I was looking at her like that;
those big marble eyes of hers complacent,
without curiosity,
telling me she knew what I was thinking,
that she was used to it;
used to boys thinking about her like that.
I was helpless.
She had all the power
and no desire to use it.

I was fifteen
and she was probably about the same age.
It took me ten years to stop thinking about her,
seeing her only that one time,
for only a few seconds.

The black girl with braces on her teeth,
long skinny legs ending in roller skates –
she came rolling across my mind tonight.