Secondary Boycott Ode by Sharon Olds

Secondary Boycott Ode

I had never seen anything like it. I was walking

out of the office of the braces doctor,

in the same building as the acne doctor,

I was on my way to the lunch counter

that had sandwiches on soft bread

with the crusts cut off—& people were blocking

the doors, following each other around

in a circle, like our junior high marching band,

& they were in the way, between me

& my sandwich. I went up to a lady who was watching,

& asked her what was happening,

& she told me about the segregated

lunch counters in the South—this was

a secondary boycott, of Woolworth’s. & I asked,

how do they choose who walks, & she said,

Anyone can. I had never seen anyone

saying no with their body, with their feet.

When I stepped toward the circle, a man walked a little

& there was a space for me, to sing

without making a sound, at last to be

unfaithful to my family,

stepping out on silence.