For Mother Nettgy, an Ode

A good woman is a forest in her entirety. Some only see trees. Those who would deny nature, who would deny her bees, who would turn away when they pollinate flower blossoms of yellow, will never taste golden honey on their tongues. A good daughter of fair Haiti--a good mother to a strong Haitian son will make. The pure nature of her motherly love will season her soups, her beans, her rice, her chicken, her goat, her beef with that life-giving Caribbean flavor that makes the blood righteously red, satisfying the boys and the men, yes, and the girls and the women with the confidence of a certain home that will carry them tall for generations to come. Can you smell it? The place from which you come? A good woman walks with the Lord. God turns to Him, talks to Him in faith with joyous praise, and lets His light illuminate through the leaves of her forest, showing her the way to grace and immortality. A good woman is a good wife. Her husband come as he may--she makes him good. With or without him ever knowing it, she brings out the best he has to offer, imbued by his mother. If he has an ounce of sense, he will garnish her in stylish clothes to match her wedding ring, the promise of his love for his wife in the eyes of all, of God. In Mother Nettgy's home a good woman abides, and for that: we hold hands and we thank Christ. Amen!