why we throw rice at weddings

(are we not all a work in progress?)

2nd Annual Carnival Ball Benefit for the DuSable Museum of African American History — Artist — Kerry Coppin (Credit: David Ash, courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago — Public Domain Images)

this will have to
suffice jimmy baldwin.
these crosses.
prayers. symbols.
these divine
visits & moments.
it has nothing to
do with our
hunger for
meaning.
perhaps we can do no
better. this is
who we are
for now & it
is not meant
for us to be
anything but
this until some-
thing better
can come &
speak kindly
of us. i await
my (our) redemp-
tion. like the time
i camped out with
my brothers
& we had no
stove on which
to cook. we
used a grill with
sticks & debris
as flame, bent pots
& pans to make
eggs & bacon
& even grits.
we ate good that day.
we said our grace
before we dined
each time. our food
more imperfect than
a bowling split,
a highway with pot-
holes, a woman
about to wed
walking down
the aisle without
her father &
no one waiting
for her to marry.
just a church
full of people
clutching handfuls
of rice & smiles
on their faces.
they have not
come to bear
witness. they
just have always
wanted to throw
rice in church
without a care
in the world. they
don’t even know
the bride. this is
who they are;
they know it &
the only thing that
really matters is
when they send their rice
into air. they are
free & happy
like a child the
first time they are
able to stand.