I remember being called “Ole Jezebel”
The name had rolled off her tongue
and landed like acid in my ears
creating holes that grew wider
as each letter wound its way down my ear canal
landed in the back of my mouth
and left a cavernous hole in my wisdom tooth
I was twelve
I was twelve when I was called “Ole Jezebel”
because of the shiny gold earrings I wore dangling from my ears
—
as if they were beacons
for the men who leave their self-control, unused, under their mattresses
I was twelve when I was wrongly attributed the term harlot (for that was its meaning)
all because I dared to be bold enough to wear matching gold hoops in each lobe
Bold like Jezebel
who was wrongly attributed the characteristic of a temptress —
she was a princess
and then a queen
whose only crime
was to be bold enough
to worship a god she knew
Years later I would
have appreciated being called Bathsheba...
but even she did no wrong
but to be beautiful
in the presence of a king
whose self-control had
been put away underneath a prayer mat
only to be plucked on strings
as Psalms
But at twelve, I knew none of these things
the way I do now
so I bore the acid of those words, “Ole Jezebel”,
felt my wisdom tooth rot and ache
took the gold from my lobes
melted them with my tears and heartache
(What do you know of a 12-year-old’s heart pain?)
I stuffed the molten gold in my wisdom tooth
where it caught and stored
the venom
of misspoken words.
I forgot it there.
I only just remembered it
now I am old
and still bold
wearing what I please
how I please
and someone dared
to call me Ole Jezebel
This time I laughed
A big belly laugh
I laughed till the gold rattled.
Fools!
Don’t they know I am a Queen?
(c) Karolyn K Smith 2021
Karolyn Smith was born in Jamaica, spent her formative years in New York, and currently resides in Grand Cayman. She is an author of two self-published collections of poetry and enjoys writing every chance she gets. Karolyn is a constant pen for the universe as she draws on all her experiences to write on human experiences such as grief, loss, love, healing and friendship.
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