by Marvin Kimbrough

All the girls were named Johnnie
All the boys were called John
All over the east side of town
Where the black folks lived
Johnnie's and John's
All the mothers loved him
The children were taught to respect him
Illegal father of illegitimate children
He was not

But Dr. John was the only white doctor in town
Who delivered black babies in the 1950s

Marvin Kimbrough grew up in East Austin, and later taught and served as Chair of the Humanities Department at Huston-Tillotson College (retired June 1999). She was a member of the Catfish Poets.