Poet Jason Reynolds Responds to a Photograph by Gordon Parks

As part of our “Poetry is a country” festival we invited celebrated American poets to compose something new inspired by art in our collection. Jason Reynolds’s poem responds to Washington, D.C. Government Charwoman (American Gothic), July 1942, a photograph by Gordon Parks.

Charwoman Interrupted Again
Jason Reynolds
and so when you were posed,
inched into the center of the frame
like a heavy sculpture, woman
chiseled from workday,
and when the question came of
whether or not you could turn
the broom upside-down, the detritus
of a good guh’ment job dancing
on the straw head, and when
the mop was placed behind you looking
on like a jealous white girl,
backdrop blurred, bars of american rag,
stitched-on star-shaped peepholes, light
shining in from some future
where my grandma would beg
for the same job not too far from you
so she wouldn’t have to keep going
all the way to silver spring to put
elbow grease to miss barbara’s baseboards,
did you think,
who is this little man with this camera
telling me to stand, telling me to smile
or not smile, telling me to act normal
and poised? don’t he know you can’t
raise five kids without poise? that’s my normal.
don’t he know I got five kids to raise
and they won’t want to hear nothing
about no modeling or even care or question
why someone would want to make art of char?
don’t he know I got a job to do?
and on the off chance you were not posed,
on the off chance he came into the building,
body and lens swinging from his neck
after the suits and hard shoes had made their way
back to their families for roast chicken
and small talk about FDR, and spotted you,
alone and perfect at the top of the steps,
tell me, please tell me, he found you
with that broom off the floor,
beating beating beating dust out the flag.
Please note: We have tried to preserve the formatting of poems, but some devices may distort how text appears. Read the poem in its original formatting.

You may also like

Article: Poet Hanif Abdurraqib Responds to a Painting by Mwangi Hutter
The Ohio-based poet's creation is a rumination on soulmates, solitude, and spirits.

Article: Poet Heid E. Erdrich Responds to a Portrait by Amedeo Modigliani
The educator, curator, interdisciplinary artist, and guest curator at the Mead Art Museum of Amherst College responds to Modigliani's "Roma Woman with Baby"