Spikes of hyacinth
By Brandon Astor Jones
"Show me someone not full of herself and I'll show you a hungry person." — Nikki Giovanni.
Although she has put on a little more weight these days, I can remember when Nikki Giovanni weighed less than 100 pounds [45 kg]. The neighbourhood of Hyde Park, on Chicago's South Side, was truly blessed to have her as one of its resident poets.
There is a unique quality and beauty in her poetry. It is often huge in its social commentary, yet fitting snugly and efficiently into the smallest of emotional spaces. I love her candour and truth. I must admit, too, that I had a crush on Nikki 40 years ago.
Taken from the last line of a work entitled "Poem for a lady whose voice I like" (1970), Nikki's words came rushing back to me with resounding truth as I read the "Ebony Advisor" (October 1997 Ebony magazine). At one time or another, most of us have read the Q&A peeks that such publications allow into the lives of others.
A letter-writer, with clear and severe self-esteem problems, wrote that she is "only a 34B".
The letter began "My boyfriend constantly makes comments that let me know that he prefers women with big breasts. Whenever he sees a big-breasted woman ... his eyes light up and he becomes noticeably excited while making comments such as 'Now that's a real woman'." I suspect Nikki would say that the letter-writer, "C.C.", is starving herself to death.
While the advice the Ebony advisor gave to her went partly in the right direction, I do not think it went far enough. That is especially so when you consider that C.C. went on to ask if she should run out and get herself breast implants. She feels that with those she will be more like "his ideal type of woman", which of course will make him more inclined to ask her to marry him.
My question is why would she want to be married to a man who makes outrageous remarks and openly lusts after other women's breasts right before her eyes?
I probably would not make a very good advice columnist because I would have to cut right to the chase. I have read many laments much like C.C.'s — along with the same advice she got — in a host of similar publications.
All of those women who are willing to accommodate men like C.C.'s boyfriend should give some serious consideration to Nikki's words. They might be well served also to ask themselves how smart can a man be who really thinks that a prerequisite of "real womanhood" is large breasts.
I will not hazard a guess as to what C.C.'s boyfriend might say if she suggests to him that he would be the ideal man, for her, if he runs out and gets a plastic surgeon to enlarge his penis.
I will trust your imagination and leave you with the well-chosen words of Federico GarcÃa Lorca, taken from a work entitled The Faithless Wife (La Gasada Infiel — 1928), which seem entirely appropriate here:
I touched her sleeping breasts,
and they opened to me suddenly
like spikes of hyacinth ...
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-57, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA. The Brandon Astor Jones Defence Fund is raising money to pay for Brandon's appeal against his sentence. If you can help, please make cheques payable to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account and post to PO Box 640, Milsons Point NSW 2061. Donations to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account may also be made at any Commonwealth Bank, account No. 2127 1003 7638.]