Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines by Alexis Pauline Gumbs & China Martens & Mai’a Williams & Loretta J Ross

Author:Alexis Pauline Gumbs & China Martens & Mai’a Williams & Loretta J Ross [Gumbs, Alexis Pauline]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: PM Press
Published: 2016-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

my first poem as a radical mother

alba onofrio

written for Adelani in august, 2010

after an engagement

with June Jordan’s poem “A Couple of Questions”

What is my job—

as your mother

as the lover

of your father

and your future

How many meetings can we make

How much anger can I take

How much pain can I hold

How many people can I hold down

while being held down

while lifting you up

to dream, to be

seen and heard and whole

and wanting to wildly create

the world I don’t know,

haven’t seen, but I’m wanting to dream

with you, my sweet

my sweet

my innocent, my pure,

miraculous, breathtaking child

Do I show you the truth

this mess of a place you’ve landed here with me

how to anticipate what they think

and what you’re “worth” and what I’m worth

Worthless and priceless

can they be the same

Do I teach you to survive

to protect your body and your soul

to lay low

to get by

do I teach you the codes

or do I just

let

you

go—

Do I steel your body and mind

or do I steal you away:

cocooning, embracing, and just letting you play

and sing

and enjoy the day

and the sun

and the stars

and the rain

letting you be wildly your own

Do I harness that potential

do I dare clip those angel wings

do I keep you safe and home with me

Does any hurt help you

Does any help hurt you

Do those headlines and being on the front lines

of every march and plea for sanity to the powers that be

cut down on the probability

of you creating

that world that we’ve never known

never seen

never tasted

’cause honey, we’re reaching hard to even dream

much less embody and be

‘the way,’ the light … of a new day

Do I let those pretty wings free

to ‘be all you can be’

while the hunters’ sights are set on you

on me

on we

this community of radicals and queers

Tell me, what is my job

as your queer, brown mother

as the female-bodied lover

of your father

who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …

Rise my Phoenix, Rise my little Sun

Show us the way to Heaven

Make this world your own.

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