Dear Mama T.L.C.
An epistolary poem written to my mother
Dear Mama T. L. C. —
still here thinking of you. just
as your best friend, Mrs. Eddie
Mae Stoner, used to say, you
are truly transparent. you are
that transparent soul wearing
unconditional love as your badge —
forthright and frank with no filter, never
seeing people as a color, but instead as
unique interlocking pieces of the puzzle
called life and the continuum of humanity.
because, as you always taught Shelly & I,
people are people, not as different as we
usually seem to think. but, also because,
you always taught us that we were free
to be who we are & want to be. for all of
your talks, teachings & mother wit, & for
introducing me to Ella, Mahalia & Carole
King…I still love Tapestry. Thank You
& Love You — P.S. I believe grandma Hilda
could probably foresee the mother you’d be
…I definitely know great grandma Thelma could.
2021 MDSHall is a poet living in Illinois, writing in association with the Writes of Passage, “forged on the wordwrights’ anvil,” and the Muse Echo Collective, Purveyors of the Poet Tree of Discoursing Drums beating by any dreams necessary.
