Answers Interrupted
for Curt & Candy

This
is what answered prayers
look like.

At the top of your mountain
of patience, perseverance and prayer
there is an altar.

An altar
that we are all standing here
with you at
today.

As we are God’s witness,
she is pleased.
Pleased that her phone
will finally stop ringing:

Amen, who dis?
Candy?
You mean, “Constance?”
Can I help you?
I told you I’m still working on it…
Yes, Idris Elba is still taken…
No, I can not “untake” him…
Just be patient my child…
Alright honey, God Bless You…

(Ring, Ring, Ring)

Amen, who dis?
Curt?
With a “C” or a “K”?
Oh wassup dawg, how you livin’?
Yeah, Genessee cool, you know how he do…
Uh huh…
I’m still workin’ on it.
Yes, Paula Patton is still taken…
No, I for sure cannot “untake” her…
Just be patient child.

Yep, I know.
And the last time…mmmmmhmmmm
And the last time before that, yep
I was there…

No you cannot get a refund!?
And no you cannot return defective products!!!
YOU CANNOT CALL PEOPLE “DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS, CURTIS!
Be nice!!!

I gotchu,
Have faith…
Alright son, God Bless You.

Amen to all the times
Jesus was on the mainline,
and you told him what you want.
Didn’t even have to sit in his lap,
instead he dropped her in yours,
and him in hers (ring, ring, ring),
and “his and her” ring, ring…
rings.

Like this circle
is the answer.

Like you prayers
for a social, emotional and psychological compliment?
Answered.

Like your prayers for a God-loving and God-fearing man?
Answered.

Like the inner and outer beauty
you wore out your knees for.
Like the mama-loving, family-loving, success-loving lover
you paired your palms together for
again and again.

Answered,
like praying for someone who won’t abandon you
in any of your many random moods.
Like tall, dark and handsome.
That ride or die Gangsta “But God, not too gangta” Boo.

Answered.
Like the blessing Isaac Brown gave your husband-to-be.
Like he knew something we didn’t know,
and it was a secret too good to keep,
so he gave you God’s message before he had to leave
the family tree.

Because God is an answering machine
that never calls back,
but delivery is guaranteed
if you just believe.

Believe in the man of your dreams
and the first thing you might receive
is a big ole … heart.

He may come in pieces
because shipping is a beyotch,
but trust
your ship is coming.

Believe in the woman of your dreams
and the very first box that might land on your doorstep,
open up and you will find her beautiful eyes.
The capacity to be seen and seen through,
for the first time,
and it feels like breathing.

Believe in each other,
because after this much praying
why turn back now?

Pray for unreasonable things,
for a love that don’t make no sense.
Pray in tongues
for a love that ends every sentence
in words that don’t exist
like “boo” and “snookums.”

Pray for a love that is unconventional
but domestic,
for a love that is unpredictably more
than expected,
for a love that is expecting.

Expecting the arrival of people who do not yet exist
like Connor and Chloe.

Pray for a love that occasionally wakes the neighbors,
IN A GOOD WAY!

Like, in a way that they thought
teenagers lived next door
for the first three months.
In a way that the cops stopped responding
cause “kids being kids” is not a crime,
but next time
they threaten to send the fire engines
AND THAT”S A FIRS!
Pray for a love like that.

Pray for imagination.
Like that Delorean
you wish you could take her back in.
Back to the Valley Green, Fairmount Park cookout.
That day when Grandpa was still on the mound.
Grin wider than a Negro League Curve Ball.
So ill, even Uncle Mike’s brand new puppy got sick.

Rest in peace, Slick.

Pray for the unbelievable.
Like that hit tub time machine
you wish you could rub his back in….

Ummm, I mean, take him back in to Thanksgiving ’89.
The night Estelle Brown cooked her last supper
and kissed you goodbye.

How family members come and go
all the time, so it’s up to us
to maintain the family line.
Plant a new family every so often
and keep the streak alive.

Pray for time to stand still.
Pray for time to never end.
Pray the prayer Cassandra Wilson sang
“Time After Time”after time and time again…
Pray them Brown Sugar prayers
like Boris Kodjoe, Sanaa Lathan’n em.

Pray like it’s April 16th, 2011…
again.

What I’m saying is
there’s still a whole lot to pray for,
like each other.
Even though God has given you
everything you’ve asked for
and more.

Everything you’ve ever wanted
in time.

And as we all stand here
atop your mountain of patience,
perseverance
and prayer.

I am here to remind you that God
is still in the listening business,
and you two
beautiful souls
are here to remind us all…

that miracles do happen
and this
is what answered prayers
look like.

(c) Hakim Bellamy November 29th, 2014