Mother wasn’t always old
Wide eyed children aglow
How could they know
Unless they are told
Husshhhhhh and listen
To our wisdom
See Momma’s face dark as night
Your skin paler, more white
You see momma was once a slave
She had to behave
Or the mastah would kill
Either way
They say
He would have his will
Victorian queen frigid as snow
It won’t hurt what she don’t know
Besides why would the princess care
If she was aware
The fine Methodist preacher does declare
Africans are animals in despair
So mastah having a little fun
Wouldn’t hurt anyone
And if Mommy would speak
Mastah wouldn’t turn the other cheek
Death on the whipping post
A deed most
Cruel
But to those that rule
At that time
It wasn’t even a crime
So momma didn’t even utter a single breath
For fear of death
She just laid it upon God on high
In a silent cry
Why God, oh why?!!?
The torture and pain
The guilt driving her insane
A dirty feeling never to be clean
His curses cold his compliments obscene
The sick smile upon his lips
The pain between her hips
Dejection
And then rejection
From Momma’s real man
Unable, refusing to understand
Momma did the best she could
See children, from evil came good
Have no fear
Momma loves you dear
Cept every day when she sees your eyes blue
It cuts as if raped anew
But Jesus never done no sin
And look what they did to him
My God, My God why have you forsaken me?
Momma understands that totally
Too well
All the truths of hell
But there’s victory, have no fear
In the one who can hear
Words that have never been uttered
For the heart is discovered
And Momma’s heart is devoted to her children
After all we’re all conceived in sin
//
John Kaniecki is a full-time caregiver for his lovely wife Sylvia who suffers from dementia. While passing the time John writes with dreams of becoming a professional writer so he can provide for his wife and himself and bless others. John has had some nominal success being published by small publishers and being self-published. John’s poetry has appeared in over one hundred outlets. After a hiatus from trying to get his poetry published John is back at work sending out the emails again. This piece Mammy comes from a small unpublished poetry chapbook called “The Sounds Of Silence.” The group of poems talks about things that we normally don’t want to talk about. Front and center is the rape of the African slaves by their masters. While this is a subject most would like to ignore it is part of our American history. In this poem, John tries to reflect the thoughts of a woman who was raped and talking to the children of those encounters.
John’s work can be seen on his Amazon page.
John is an activist being at one time a member of Woman’s International League of Peace and Freedom, New Jersey Peace Action and the IWW. John served for eight years as a volunteer missionary to the inner city of Newark, New Jersey.
Alpha Female Society. 