NaPoWriMo 23

Blossomgame

~For my mother

Your life before we met is slightly mysterious:
the you of my imagination is otherworldly and striking.
American dream right in front of you
yet you carry dual citizenship, young and black,
hauling a last name you can’t explain.
Native American or slave name,
a distraction from the destruction of your worst days.
Atlanta, early ’60s, lunch counter sit-in—
you were the kind of person who would
run toward a tornado, at least I wished it so.
You understood when to keep your mouth shut
and when to speak up, living by your own logic
of survival, which doesn’t seem to have any
in the face of change. In my head
I have reinvented you a as warrior,
disruptive as a cold snap in spring.
You open in me like a flower,
a constant state of becoming
and being.

Comments

Beautiful title for a wonderful poem! Is this really your mother? What was her last name?
January said…
Thanks. That's my mom's maiden name. The Blossomgames are all scattered throughout the South!
That is so cool! Blossomgame--I thought you just put this together as a great title! This is even better.
PS Alex still looks incredibly like Simon to me. Could BE Simon sitting there....
Writer Bug said…
I love this line: living by your own logic of survival, which doesn’t seem to have any in the face of change

Great job. I hope you'll show this to your mom!

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