Backyard Jam

Miah Prescod

              I heard

we gon be outside this summer

and what better way to welcome

the blossoming of her presence

than a cookout —

an ode to the breeze and warmth

from her sun goddess gaze.

Let’s call it a tribute.

One phone call and

everybody coming home to

aunty’s hands in the kitchen working her magic. 

But is it really a cookout if you don’t ask

who made the mac and cheese?

Cause everybody’s hands ain’t like aunty’s hands.

            Or my mother’s.

The grill is calling my uncle’s name

searching for chicken

hot dogs lined up waiting.

I like mine burnt.

That’s the only way to do it.

Mango chow straight from the islands.

If you can’t handle peppa this ain’t for you.

This is a backyard jam and

we bringing Trinidad across the sea

straight into Brooklyn.

Miah Prescod is an artist and a first-generation American writer of Trinidadian descent. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she is also a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence College. When she isn’t writing, you can find her dancing to soca or binge-watching a political drama on Netflix.