The Color of My Aunt's Coffee
Sugar vs. Cream
by
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Sugar “If you are bitter at heart, sugar in the mouth will not help you.” - Yiddish Proverb Colored Girls vs. Themselves Remember when we dug our fingers into sun scorched dirt cooled by green garden hoses making mud pies and garnishing them with yellow dandelions master chefs of backyard playgrounds playing house on porches before we knew anything about playing house in adolescent bedrooms under princess and superhero comforters when mommy and daddy were away. We were so free swinging our pigtails in the breeze the only make – up we needed was the tan lines of straps on bare shoulders. Our perfume was the scent of outside that's why little cinnamon boys couldn't resist the smell of us. That's why they were always chasing us and sharing penny candy pieces of dreams on swings that made us believe we could fly with just the right push. We held hands with our best friends and shared secrets and colored in our Strawberry Shortcake coloring books relishing the scent of being little girls before we had the ability to pick up Her grown woman scent on Him. We were colorful and flavorful like The Color Purple before Mister came and did his business and left us with a case of the Miss Celie Blues. We were sweet, honey and lemon scented sugar drops. Colored girls who grew up and became us. 6.15.2011
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About the Book
Growing up, I remember my Aunt Mona drinking coffee. It wasn't anything spectacular about her drinking coffee. What was magical to me as a child was that her coffee matched her skin tone perfectly. Whenever I saw her drinking coffee I would think, “Aunt Mona is drinking herself.” The Color of My Aunt's Coffee. Sugar vs. Cream is a collection of poetry that matches my skin tone perfectly. I invite you to find your nearest cafe or melt into your favorite chair and enjoy a cup of me. You will enjoy the way I taste.
About the Author
Tia DeShay, a Detroit Native, graduated from Cass Technical High School and earned her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education with a major in English Literature and a minor in History from Eastern Michigan University. She later obtained her Masters degree and Educational Specialist Certificate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Wayne State University. For 10 years, Tia DeShay taught high school Literature, Journalism and Yearbook for the Detroit Public Schools. In November 2010, Tia DeShay resigned from the Detroit Public Schools and decided that her gift of writing was worth more than an occasional one night stand. She was willing to commit and marry the man of her dreams: Poetry. She has written two books of poetry: If I Only Had Five Minutes. The Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet and R.S.V.P. How a Detroit Girl Made Love's A – List. Tia DeShay has been a featured poet for Never Again Ministries of Phoenix, Arizona, 12th Street Missionary Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan, and Family Victory Fellowship of Southfield, Michigan. “Poetry is a way of making sense of me and the space that I occupy. For me, poetry is a life style. Poetry is a way to tell the story of people who are disenfranchised and whose voice has been immobilized and censored by hopeless circumstances and failed relationships. My poetry is a complete thought in a world of fragments. My poetry is the voice of those we choose to ignore because we are so consumed with ‘us’ instead of ‘we.’ In my poetry, my readers see themselves raw and unashamed. In my poetry, I Write Now so others can remember later.”