Jasmine Mans

cantfindit

Jasmine Mans is a Black American poet, artist from Newark, New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison, with a B.A. in African American Studies. Her debut collection of poetry, Chalk Outlines of Snow Angels, was published in 2012. Mans is the resident poet at the Newark Public Library. She was a member of The Strivers Row Collective. Source

Momma Said [ ] at the Kitchen Table

Momma said,

so you gonna be a [  ] now?

 

As if she meant to say,

didn't I raise you better than that,

don't you know

I ain't raise no [  ],

don't you know

you too pretty to be a [  ]?

 

Why you gonna embarrass us like this,

you scared no man gonna love you,

you scared of men,

some mannnnnnn hurt you,

who hurt you?

 

Momma said,

so you gonna be a [  ] now?

 

As if she meant to say,

don't you know

how hard it already is

for women like us,

why you gonna go

and make it harder on yourself?

 

I don't want you in that kind of pain,

this world ain't sweet on those kinds of women,

I don't want another reason to be scared for you.

 

Momma said,

so you gonna be a [  ]  now?

 

As if she meant to say,

I'm scared for you.

Published:

2021

Length:

Regular

Literary Movements:

Contemporary

Anthology Years:

2023

Themes:

Childhood & Coming of Age

LGBTQ+ Experience

Womanhood

Literary Devices:

Dialogue

conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie

Repetition

a recurrence of the same word or phrase two or more times