I just finished reading a fabulous book of poetry by Jasmine Mans called Black Girl, Call Home. Her dedication is written “For Mommy and Nana”, which spoke to me because I recently lost my grandmother and have been thinking about my relationships with my mother(s), daughter(s), and granddaughters. Her poems are commentary on world events, pop culture, race, gender, sex, family, you name it. Nothing is off limits for a poetic turn of phrase for Ms. Mans. I admire her fierce, unflinching insistence on speaking her true voice about topics I have never been brave enough to write about.
Rather than sharing my thoughts, I thought I would share a few lines of Mans’ poetry.
On mothers: I resent my mother / for things she has sacrificed / on my behalf.
On mothers: I know grace and mercy was raised / by the same single mother.
On God: I have reason to believe / God made dandelions / and metaphors / on the same day.
On Jay-Z: If we past kneeling, / How come we ain’t past dying?
On death: He died / as if / God / thought / he / outstayed / the welcome / in his own skin.
On Kanye (& the Black Aunties): …we know / we made you, / and who are we / to just let / our sister’s son / die?
On Whitney: She sits on an octave / past heaven… / A choir of collateral… / Enough voice to stretch / across the Pacific or the ghetto…
On time: Time / is a Black girl / tapping her red, / 4-inch / nails, against / a mahogany / kitchen table / on Springfield Ave.
There are poems in honor of Serena & Venus Williams, Michelle Obama, Sandra Bland, Halle Bailey, Alysia Harris, Sean Bell, a whole list of women who were sterilized without consent by American doctors, Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells, a list of missing black girls, lovers, exes, and relatives, including parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as friends, neighbors, shop owners, and community members. She speaks with a bold, clear voice as a Black, queer, feminist. And I am inspired to broaden the scope of fodder for poetic consideration.
Mans, Jasmine, Black Girl, Call Home, Penguin Random House, 2021.
These images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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