Fried chicken , collard greens , cornbread sweetened with my grandmothers love ,

yams , and black eyed peas ,

poundcake that smells as if it was sent by God himself .

Savory lemonade to quench my thirst after the meal ,

 it's not even a holiday , just another weekend .

We do this every weekend and wonder why our blood pressure breaks records like an Olympian,

our cholesterol flying neck and neck with the birds.

As if we are invincible ,

As if we weren't the nations leader in heart attacks and diabetes.

We go into a diabetic death match every weekend .

They say it's the way that we eat .

 The reason diseases chase us down like officers .

We refuse to believe them,

why should I believe them,

my ancestors ate the same way.

In fact my great grandmother is 101 and she ate this way her whole life,

Both sets of grandparents are still alive

So anyway

I'll just watch some tv

and as I was watching the television I heard a voice ask me "baby where you coming from "

I turn the volume down for my reply "Oh no where granny I just left school "

I turn the volume back up until I hear a faint voice.

"Baby where you coming from "

This time I mute the tv perhaps she didn't hear me

"Oh no where grandma I just left school "

I turn the tv back up hoping to find something intriguing

until I hear my grandmother clear her throat as if her body begged her not to speak

"baby where you coming from "

I give her the usual reply and run out wondering

Why , why is this happening

It's as if me and God are fighting for her and part of her mind is already with him 

he's just generous enough to leave her body with us .

So I thank him .

I thank him everyday right before I eat the same foods that bring me slowly closer to him .

I don't know now .

Maybe it is the way that we eat 

or maybe we are so strong that God can't wait to have us by his side

.either way I still sit at the dinner table ,

with Fried chicken , collard greens , that cornbread sweetened with my grandmothers love ,

yams , black eyed peas, that poundcake from God and I smile ,

I smile at my grandmother

It's just that she doesn't know me

but it's not that I haven't been with her ,

I just saw her yesterday .