47. "The Beginning of "For Brother Blue"" In response to In response to 0
For Brother Blue by Patricia Smith
Every little colored girl needs a colored man who loves her unconditionally, who treasures her frailties, her sins, the mistakes she makes just pulling in one breath and pushing out the next. She needs someone who knows how her heart bends almost to the point of breaking. What she needs is a lanky, loquacious griot swathed in all the colors the sky has been, a man whose feet never bother to reach the ground, and couldn't if they wanted to, because of all the glittering butterflies lifting him up. What every little colored girl is a man who spots her in a crushing crowd, pushes and pummels to reach her side, and then says • in response to everything she has ever done and ever will do • "You leave me breathless."