Lessons From Mom

I am re-posting a poem I wrote about my mother last year.  I had the honor of reading her this poem at a Senior Breakfast at Gateway Community College in May this year.  Everyone loved it and I hope you will too.  Please comment on my work...it will help me become a better writer.:)

 

Lessons from Mom

By Masnoh Wilson

O my Ma…

She’s always telling, teaching, talking,

All the time, all the time

She makes me laugh so hard, you know

Because you see,

I’m a grown woman living miles away

Loving my life, doing my thing

But yet Mom is still calling and trying

To tell me what to do…

How to live, what to wear

And even how to fix my hair

So when I call

To say hello

And Mom starts her teaching thing

You should see me rolling my eyes

Switching my feet

Rocking my hips

Halfway holding the phone

Sighing to myself, while thinking of a reason

To end the call

But, her remedies for swollen feet

Gassy stomach and constipation

Aches in the joints and other places

Are all beginning to reverberate

Especially now that I’m entering

The second phase of my life on earth

Her advice on love

Marriage and child-rearing

That was always met with such resistance

Are all now becoming invaluable

Because as we all know

And have always known

Mothers are exceptional creatures…

Is there anything a mother doesn’t already know????

300 Million Strong

This poem was inspired by the speech President Obama made at the Memorial for the victims in the Gabby Gifford shooting.  I was so moved by the speech that I wrote the phrase 300 million strong in my notebook.  Days later, I started to write the poem…please comment after reading.  I would love to hear your thoughts… This was published in an online magazine recently (aduaana.org) and I’m now reposting.

300 Million Strong

By Masnoh Wilson

All around me, I see my family

300 million strong…

From all walks of life

And every nation on earth

From all seven continents combined

 Representing a family sublime

Divided by language, culture, color and creed

Yet trying our hardest to be

One Nation under God…

From all walks of life, my eyes behold

All God’s children,

Living and dwelling together as brethren

For we are not black nor white or yellow or red

We are humans of all shades of brown

The human race created by God

To bring forth

His Beauty, Glory

And Grace

The people here before us with their culture intact

Have influenced the way we interact

For no man lives to himself

And no man dies to himself

Our lives are intertwined

From the day we first exhale

So we are not a perfect union

Yet we must all strive to be

That one person who tries

To make life better

For others in the Family

Of 300 Million Strong

We are learning to live together,

Respecting each other,

Learning to be our brother’s keeper

While loving and helping one another

In this our family

Sublime

300 million Strong

 Descendants of people

Who left the Old World

Some willingly, others unwilling,

To settle in the New

And somehow make it their own

The gifts they brought benefit us all

Every country, culture and tribe

Represented in these Great United States

Brought something to America

That can never

Be taken away, ever!

Yes, we know we are not a perfect union

But still we must all strive to be

That one person who tries

To make life better for others

In this family of

300 Million Strong!!!!!

Beautiful Me

This poem was inspired by some alarming tweets I read this morning filled with so many disparaging remarks about our physical features.  As Black people, we need to celebrate and show off the beauty we possess.  I decided to write through the eyes of a child so that our children can stop being ashamed of who they are!!!

Beautiful Me

By: Masnoh Wilson

Beautiful Me
I KNOW I AM

Who told me so

Doesn’t everyone know?

In me you see

Mankind indeed

For I begin with mahogany

And sometimes end with ecru

Doesn’t matter whether

My hair is tightly coiled,

Loosely curled

Or wavy straight

Doesn’t matter that my nose is broad

a little bit wide

Or Kinda narrow

Or almost straight

Doesn’t matter that my lips are big and brown

Or medium red

Or thin and pink

Or does it matter what you think?

This is no mystery you see

Cause my beauty honey 
Begins with me 
And ends with you!

Beautiful Me

I know I am

Who told me so?

Wow, doesn’t everyone know?

When Darkness Came

This poem is a very personal one that took me a while to write.  For a while I did not want to feel anything or write anything...But last week I sat down and wrote this.  I hope it helps someone out there who might be going through some life-changing events.  Some people might not like to hear this, but God is real; and is becoming even more real to me as I deal with the recent events I write about in this poem. If you would like to know more, inbox me on facebook or send me a tweet at Masnoh's Books.  Presenting my latest work: (Drum roll please...lol)

When Darkness Came…

When darkness came

My heart stood still…

The pain so great

I thought it would break

Nothing prepares your heart for this pain

No matter how long on earth you’ve lived

This gut-wrenching, devouring, scathing ache

That just won’t go away, no matter how hard I try

I still grieve some, weep some

And then ponder…

About the nonsensical events of my life

Asking God how can it be...

A child’s life interrupted… Could not I foresee?

An illness so profound

I dare not utter its name

Has taken over a vibrant child

A lively, energetic, and spirited being

Oh God, tell me this is just a delusion

Tell me I’m dreaming and then wake me later

Cause I want to sleep until it’s all over

But over it will not be for a while

I must awake, and deal with it now

But where do I go, where do I turn
Everything seems to be shutting me down

My heart so heavy, with grief, it’ll burst

Until I find my Anchor, The Solid Rock!

               

Dahboh, My Grandma

Was thinking about my Grandma the other day and what she meant to me… I always wished she had lived long enough to see us grow up.  She buried her son and then we had to bury her too.  I was still young when Dahboh passed, but she left quite an impression.  So today, I present, my En-Neh…Grandma!  Enjoy!

Dahboh, my Grandma

Masnoh Wilson

Dahboh…my Grandma

“Old woman” in Bassa

But “old woman” Dahboh was not…

Smart as a whip and ooooh what a Diva!

Spoke no English

And she didn’t care

Swung her head in the air, with her hand on her hips

‘Cause only Bassa, Dahboh wanted to hear

She told us stories

That rambled on for hours

Laughing, singing, smacking her hips- pow

Sometimes it felt like she had superpowers

Always joking, roaring with laughter

Imitating us whenever we gathered

Recited stories of her own childhood

Stories of joy and sorrows, stories that mattered

My Grandma had eyes in back of her head

Couldn’t fool her, no you couldn’t

Every now and then you got the look

So you would remember what was important

Dahboh didn’t take no mess

Dahboh  always stood for what was right

When you look at me sometimes

My Grandma's smile’s dynamite!

A Snowy Day

Here is a poem I wrote when we had our first winter storm two weeks ago.  A girlfriend on face book posted something about snow falling down and another friend added to the poem.  I wished I had copied their posts…however I went to work the following day and penned this. This is inspired by my kids when they were young and loved playing in the snow.

A Snowy Day

Snowy, snowy, snowy day

Snow is falling everywhere

Little flakes, dusty flakes

Powdery, feathery snowy flakes

Looking outside my windowpane

Lots of places I could play

Can’t wait to get outside and run

This snow’s gonna be so much fun

Got my boots, my mittens and hat

On goes my coat, all buttoned up

Mom’s hot chocolate will have to wait

Have to go now, can’t be late

Ran outside with a wham, wham bang

Slammed the door so hard it shook

Fell into a humongous pile

So much fun to thrash and hide

Friends came over from everywhere

To build snowmen, igloos, snow angels too

Took turns sledding in the backyard

Ending playtime was really hard

Scuttled inside, snow’s everywhere

Mom’s annoyed, I can see why

Got all cleaned up, raced to the kitchen

Hot chocolate and muffins waiting to be eaten!

Honoring Black Inventors and Scientists

I am unable to share a power point presentation on African-American Inventors and Scientists, but here are comments I would like to share:

If you need laser surgery, thank Patricia Bath, if you need a pacemaker, thank Otis Boykin, when you eat potato chips, thank George Crum. Thank Betty Harris for identifying explosives, thank Kennneth Kunkley for the 3D glasses, thank Valerie Thomas for the technology that helps that helped with the invention for cordless microphones and the GPS, thank Lonnie Johnson for the super-soaker and nerf balls(the kids will really love him), thank Dr. Mark Dean who helped with the invention of the PC and thank Marie Van Britton Brown for technology that helped bring about security systems for tv and home security systems...and the list goes on, and on and on. Happy Black History month y'all!!!!


Also thank Frederick McKinley whenever you open your refrigerator! Janday wanted to know why she never learned any of during her years of Black History Month in school...we can all take the blame for that!!! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER people!!! Go out there and learn and pass the knowledge on. Thank God for the internet or I wouldn't even know about the contemporary inventors!!