Aisha Phoenix: Irresistible Smile

Irresistible Smile

I first heard "Ebony & Ivory" at your Bat Mitzvah.
You must have been 13 or 14 then.
I was so taken by your rendition
That I longed to hear the song again
Only to be disappointed, years later,
By an original that didn't sound like you.

At the moment you're walking slowly through my mind
With big shoes and baggy trousers trailing on the ground.
But what's pulling at me is your smile -
An irresistibly cheeky grin that takes over your face
And dares the world not to smile back.

I doubt it was a coincidence that you picked
"Ebony & Ivory" to sing back then,
Resonating, as it does, with your desire for peace and unity.
I can't imagine you seeking refuge in silence
If an injustice needed to be named.

Remember when you sat
Challenging Home Office movers and shakers
About UK race and equality policies?
Unperturbed, you spoke with that trademark confidence and eloquence
As your audience squirmed in their seats.

It was a very different audience in the nineties.
When "perfect harmony" cut through the quiet room
Your smile shone above rapturous applause.
Without even closing my eyes
I see that same smile.