more claudine more
cooley high more
cocoa butter more
vaseline more high top fade

more pomade pressed
baby hair more dreadlock
my mama black strong
coffee done been through
many a fire still here
soot

more sweet potato more
collards more
neckbone more
backbone more
bigbone more
bone thugs more
nina simone more

my mama black
had she never been
i’d never known more
never come to regret
come to knees bent every night
hands clasped
“i want to be black, Jesus”

to standing ovations
unpopular demands
my mama be that “who the hell you think you talking to?”
simultaneously instilling in you
whatever you gotsta be
you’ll never be “grown-er” than her
less than your best with her or else or
else is why black folks ain’t scared of no ghosts
we’re scared of our mothers

lint filled pockets and purse
but can still wave her hand o’er a kitchen table
and everything becomes more than enough
can’t nobody make me do shit like mama
like call me when you made it
even if you’re 16, 35 or 65
you will call her
even if making it is only upstairs
to your room just to know
you made it alive.

my mama nestle black joy in nape
of her neck small of her back
freckle on nose places where
that very cologne smell good
even when she ain’t good

she pulls from her deficit
if it was the last thing she did.
we were never the last thing she did.
come to ask god for nothing for herself
not even perfect health
my mama black herself behind
till it ain’t nothing else but black
my mama black now

now jealous of the moon
cuz he gets to hang around her smile
stars freckle her face occasionally
wind blow round midnights to remind me
this black still got arms
reaching out ever so often
when the sleeping and living don’t come
easy in her loud absence

my mama
more blanket
more dusk now
more later on
more

Jonathan Samuel Eddie is a fourth-generation educator with a passion for youth empowerment, and community building. He credits his late mother for encouraging him to use his gifts to inspire young people. His poems, drawing inspiration from black pop culture and lived experience, have been featured on Write About Now, The Root, and All Def Poetry. Jonathan was also a 2018 runner-up in The Missouri Review’s Miller Audio Prize for Humor.